There were an estimated 4.7 million employees furloughed at the end of January with women accounting for the majority of the number, according to provisional Treasury figures.

They showed a leap in demand for the Job Retention Scheme, which provides up to 80% of salaries, during the month as England entered its third COVID-19 lockdown.

The number of women furloughed had risen by 2.32 million by 31 January while the number of men stood at 2.18 million.

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The Treasury said all sectors of the economy drew down on the scheme – with the total number rising from four million at the end of December and that over 11 million workers’ wages had been supported since the furlough scheme first came in last spring.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is widely tipped to extend it, to the end of June at least, when he reveals his budget next Wednesday.

He has said in advance of the statement that protecting jobs remains his priority as the UK’s unemployment rate continues to creep up as a result of the pandemic disruption that has left large parts of the economy in hibernation for most of the past 11 months.

The provisional Treasury data showed that the accommodation and food services sector had the highest take-up rate – at 68% of employers – on 31 January with 1.15 million people securing support.

There were almost 940 thousand on furlough in the retail sector by the same date as non-essential stores were also shuttered.

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