200,000 more people furloughed last month as 4.7m are still on the scheme
Another 200,000 people were put on furlough for the first time last month as the government paid out nearly £4bn to cover wages.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it had paid £57.7bn in furlough cash to around 11.4m people since the pandemic began.
Around 4.7m people were still on furlough by the end of February, the new figures show.
The furlough scheme supported employees who were unable to work because of lockdowns and other restrictions caused by Covid-19. It covered up to 80 per cent of these workers’ salaries, taking pressure off personal finances.
Businesses have also been given support over the past month, borrowing an extra £2.2bn from three Treasury-backed loan schemes.
Banks provide the money for the loans, but the government has promised to cover 80 per cent to 100 per cent of the loans should businesses be unable to pay them back.
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans
In the month to March 21, another £1.3bn was lent in Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans (CBILS), and around £900m in Bounce Back Loans, which help the smallest businesses.
It takes the total lent through the two schemes – and through CLBILS, a scheme for larger firms – to £75.1bn since they were introduced between March and May last year.
Craig Beaumont, chief of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “1.6m small businesses have now been helped to keep going through an awful year by securing Bounce Back Loans. As the unlock takes place, the economic recovery will rely on the successor scheme to fire on all cylinders.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “I said we would do whatever it takes to protect jobs and livelihoods and that is exactly what we have done.
“We’ll continue to protect jobs through our new Recovery Loan Scheme – part of our wider Plan for Jobs – as we move out of this crisis.”