THE number of jobs furloughed in the north increased to just over 115,000 in the middle of January, the highest number since the end of July, new figures from HMRC show.
Employments registered under the UK Government Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme reached 96,500 in Northern Ireland at the end of December.
That jumped to 114,600 at the start of January following Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s December 17 announcement that the furlough scheme would be extended until the end of April.
The north’s furlough figure slowly crept up to a high of 115,300 by the middle of January, finishing the month at 106,200.
Another extension to the furlough scheme is expected to be confirmed during next week’s Budget.
HMRC confirmed on Thursday that the number of claims made under the Self Employment Support Scheme in the north hit 62,000 as of January 31, with £171m paid under the latest tranche.
