A few got biggest slices of PPP pie
Newdata indicates 600 firms received loans of $10M each
More than 5 million companies received loans under the federal government’s signature relief program for small businesses reeling from the pandemic, but a tiny fraction of those companies gobbled up vast sums of money, data shows.
Detailed loan information released by the Small Business Administration late Tuesday showed about 600 businesses received loans of $10 million, the largest available under the $525 billion Paycheck Protection Program.
Also, a mere 1 percent of borrowers received more than onequarter of the total amount of money disbursed — or about $143 billion in loans of $1.4 million and above.
The data is the first full accounting of how federal money was spent through the PPP, which offered struggling small companies (generally those with 500 or fewer workers) forgivable loans to help them retain workers and keep up with bills like rent and other expenses.
The influx of money was a crucial stabilizing force for many businesses fighting to survive amid widespread shutdowns caused by the pandemic. But the program has come under criticism for its poorly defined rules and the hasty and haphazard rollout that allowed fraudsters to tap into the money.
Also included in the data were details of loans made under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan system, a long-standing SBA program that was vastly expanded to offer relief to businesses affected by the pandemic.
Together, the two programs spread more than $700 billion to struggling companies in just a few months.
The loan data was released under an order by Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, who rejected the SBA’S request to keep the information confidential.
of a viable coronavirus vaccine have lifted business prospects and have begun to outline a potential end to the pandemic.
The decelerating gains were the lowest payroll numbers ADP has reported since the summer.
“While November saw employment gains, the pace continues to slow,” Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute, said in a statement. “Job growthremained positive across all industries and sizes.”
Nearly 90 percent of the job
gains in November came in service-providing sectors, ADP reported, including leisure and hospitality, health care and administrative services, amounting to 276,000 roles. Construction jobs, meanwhile, increased by 22,000.
Across all industries, mediumsize businesses experienced the greatest gains, adding 139,000 jobs last month, while small businesses increased their ranks by 110,000, followed by the largest companies, which added 58,000 jobs.
ADP’S data is subject to revision and may not offer a complete picture of the U.S. labor market. On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its monthly
employment report, which does not always align with ADP’S numbers.
But the payroll data offers another worrying sign amid surging coronavirus infections.
On Monday, after the holiday weekend, U.S. health officials reported an alarming streak of more than 100,000 newdaily cases for nearly 30 consecutive days. Hospitalizations over the past seven days also jumped 12 percent.
As the virus spreads and millions of Americans feel the crush of financial hardship, Congress for months has faced calls to fund another round of emergency relief. Lawmakers on Tuesday showed the first sign of move
ment in weeks, as a bipartisan group introduced an aid package totaling about $908 billion.
The effort arrived as otherpowerful figures aimed to steer the direction of economic relief, highlighting the lack of consensus in Washington and the protracted disagreements over the size of a deal and key provisions.
President-elect Joe Biden has called for massive government spending. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, RKy., and House Democrats are crafting new proposals of their own.
The latest jobs figures may add a sense of urgency to unify the clashing approaches.
Further political uncertainty remains, though. Two January runoff elections in Georgia will decide the makeup of the Senate, either granting Democrats control of Congress and the White House or allowing Republicans to maintain their slim majority.
More than 20 million Americans were receiving some form of unemployment aid as of early November, the Labor Department reported. The last two weekly unemployment reports show further worrisome signs, as new unemployment claims rose, and economists say further inaction from Congress in the face of a public health crisis could derail the fledgling recovery.