(Bloomberg) -- The U.K.’s unemployment rate climbed less than economists expected in the three months to November, as an extension of government aid helped protect some jobs amid a widespread lockdown.

The rate rose to 5% in the period, lower than the 5.1% predicted by economists, but still the highest since 2016, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. The number of people in work fell by a smaller than expected 88,000.

Still, by the end of December 828,000 people had lost their jobs since the crisis began, the figures showed, while redundancies hit a record level in November. The spike may have been more pronounced but for an eleventh hour extension of the government’s furlough plan, announced alongside details of November’s lockdown on Oct. 31.

That program is now due to end in April, although people familiar with the matter said last week that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to extend aid with the nation back under a more severe set of restrictions.

Such a move may further dampen the peak of unemployment after the crisis, which the government’s fiscal watchdog last year predicted could be 7.5%.

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