(Reuters) – LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) – According to fresh official data, more British workers were furloughed in late May than previously anticipated, indicating a less optimistic prognosis for unemployment than previously thought. At the end of May, 2.4 million people were still on the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention scheme, down from over 9 million in May 2020, according to the finance ministry. According to early estimates released by the Office for National Statistics in late May, 1.7 million people were furloughed. “A bumpier ride in aggregate, and more individuals at risk of unemployment in the months ahead,” Torsten Bell, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation research tank, said on Twitter. Rishi Sunak, the finance minister, has announced that the furlough scheme will be phased out entirely by the end of September. The government lowered its share to furloughed workers’ wages from 80 percent to 70 percent as of Thursday. Andy Bruce contributed reporting, and Michael Holden edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./n
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