Reuters reports that the Office for National Statistics survey showed that British businesses said 9% of their workforce remained furloughed with less than a month to go before the closure of the government's job retention scheme.

ONS said 9.1% of the workforce was furloughed during the two weeks to Oct. 4, down only marginally from the previous two-week period.

After the end of this month, furlough-type arrangements will only be available to businesses forced to close temporarily because of local or national coronavirus restrictions.