As of Sunday 14 June, 9.1 million workers were furloughed by 1.1 million employers. In total, the value of claims under the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) stands at £20.8bn.
This is up from 8.9 million furloughed workers reported a week ago when employers were claiming a total of £19.6bn to cover staff wages.
Meanwhile, claims made by self-employed workers who are struggling during the pandemic have remained at 2.6 million.
The total value of claims made under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, which launched in May, is now £7.6bn, up from £7.5bn last week.
The furlough scheme was initially due to run until June but chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed it will continue until the end of October.
However, employers will be expected to contribute towards furloughed workers’ wages from September.
Sunak has also announced a “second and final” grant will be available for self-employed workers from August.
This second grant will be payable at a level equivalent to 70 per cent of the taxpayer’s annual average profits, capped at £2,190 per month, so the maximum amount payable will be £6,570 to cover three months.
Support for businesses
Separate figures from the Treasury show that more than £38.2bn has been given in loans to struggling businesses.
Under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, more than 860,000 businesses have received £26.34bn in loans. As of 14 June, more than one million applications for the scheme have been submitted.
As part of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, £10.1bn has been approved to help near 50,000 businesses, while 96,000 applications have been made under the scheme.
Turning to the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Treasury statistics revealed £1.77bn of loans have been approved for 279 businesses, though 661 applications have been received.
