The Office for National Statistics found Tuesday that the number of workers on payroll rose by a record 257,000 in November to a record 29.4 million.
The emergence of omicron over the past couple of weeks has created renewed uncertainty over the economic outlook, raising the specter of renewed job losses as firms respond to lower demand.
For much of the time the program was in place, the government paid 80% of the salaries of employees unable to work because of lockdown measures.