The Paycheck Protection Program Is Saving Jobs Across America

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Interesting findings

Now that $519 billion in PPP loans has had time to work, one question still hangs in the air: Has the funding been effective? According to recent data released by the U.S. Treasury Department,1,2 the answer is yes.

Thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of jobs have been saved in each state. With unemployment reaching significant highs in April of this year, we can only imagine how much worse things could have been if the PPP loans didn’t help retain American jobs during this economic crisis.

As for each state, there’s a direct correlation between the number of jobs saved and the amount of funding received. Let’s take a look at how the numbers break down on a per-state basis.

We found a number of compelling details in the Treasury Department’s data that give a very positive outlook on the success of PPP loans:

  • Over 50 million American jobs (50,679,396, to be exact) have been preserved as a result of the over $519 billion in PPP loans given to small businesses.
  • Over 19 million jobs were saved as a result of loans below $150,000, while 31 million jobs were retained from loans of $150,000 and above.
  • California had the most PPP loan approvals of all the states, resulting in over 6.5 million saved jobs.
  • The more loan funding a state received, the more jobs were saved, demonstrating that the program effectively preserved American jobs during a time of high unemployment.
State
Loan Count
Total Amount Funded
< 150k Jobs Retained
>150k Jobs Retained
Total Jobs Retained

Alabama

65,806

$6,191,565,635

264,058

408,803

672,861

Alaska

11,169

$1,247,632,643

46,462

67,587

114,049

Arizona

81,015

$8,624,142,070

411,501

616,020

1,027,521

Arkansas

42,427

$3,319,742,303

166,529

209,212

375,741

California

581,140

$68,225,253,665

2,364,647

4,140,900

6,505,547

Colorado

104,402

$10,369,964,852

369,271

562,640

931,911

Connecticut

60,951

$6,690,573,886

227,590

374,985

602,575

Delaware

12,502

$1,489,717,332

47,414

89,119

136,533

Florida

393,028

$32,045,720,362

1,357,580

1,867,084

3,224,664

Georgia

156,814

$14,502,923,640

606,201

865,581

1,471,782

Hawaii

24,534

$2,497,717,752

85,383

140,053

225,436

Idaho

30,167

$2,571,003,631

145,705

159,717

305,422

Illinois

202,143

$22,486,267,789

801,813

1,360,926

2,162,739

Indiana

79,151

$9,485,147,788

352,998

598,595

951,593

Iowa

58,466

$5,087,064,565

225,021

298,184

523,205

Kansas

51,872

$4,996,112,228

203,023

318,299

521,322

Kentucky

48,354

$5,239,687,995

239,486

359,886

599,372

Louisiana

73,825

$7,339,607,519

307,247

492,974

800,221

Maine

27,200

$2,242,074,846

107,878

135,493

243,371

Maryland

81,315

$10,054,533,726

323,019

615,415

938,434

Massachusetts

113,000

$14,329,027,191

402,764

740,747

1,143,511

Michigan

121,135

$15,959,809,357

563,063

990,961

1,554,024

Minnesota

98,138

$11,208,272,990

379,307

711,199

1,090,506

Mississippi

45,817

$3,165,442,525

193,535

218,957

412,492

Missouri

91,498

$9,143,522,129

380,126

555,893

936,019

Montana

23,104

$1,762,484,534

105,751

109,506

215,257

Nebraska

42,499

$3,421,713,932

147,509

180,027

327,536

Nevada

42,147

$4,125,976,098

220,027

305,664

525,691

New Hampshire

23,829

$2,550,585,128

79,564

130,435

209,999

New Jersey

147,550

$17,204,788,723

531,360

925,095

1,456,455

New Mexico

21,924

$2,240,751,741

101,764

146,175

247,939

New York

323,903

$38,349,280,077

1,117,742

2,044,978

3,162,720

North Carolina

121,917

$12,405,099,857

497,003

749,591

1,246,594

North Dakota

19,724

$1,765,068,431

71,832

104,376

176,208

Ohio

140,270

$18,370,838,345

652,516

1,228,109

1,880,625

Oklahoma

64,277

$5,446,203,356

264,987

355,366

620,353

Oregon

62,769

$6,978,512,390

239,648

372,674

612,322

Pennsylvania

165,918

$20,711,084,796

624,857

1,196,212

1,821,069

Rhode Island

17,163

$1,879,909,109

60,054

97,480

157,534

South Carolina

63,178

$5,740,234,166

280,034

377,923

657,957

South Dakota

22,508

$1,664,208,859

80,005

101,628

181,633

Tennessee

93,292

$8,916,915,556

341,357

575,639

916,996

Texas

389,396

$41,051,828,678

1,776,705

2,742,960

4,519,665

Utah

50,691

$5,247,494,314

374,500

422,349

796,849

Vermont

11,929

$1,187,439,086

45,179

68,659

113,838

Virginia

109,225

$12,611,135,107

358,296

615,665

973,961

Washington

101,049

$12,302,067,753

351,522

555,100

906,622

Washington D.C

12,483

$2,137,811,705

42,167

123,328

165,495

West Virginia

17,322

$1,800,837,214

82,251

121,990

204,241

Wisconsin

85,461

$9,879,400,471

379,422

619,619

999,041

Wyoming

13,231

$1,041,442,563

54,914

57,031

111,945

These findings prove the PPP loans’ success. The 19 million jobs that were saved by loans below the $150,000 mark show that investment in small business is crucial to the health of the jobs market—especially considering that small businesses constitute 47.3% of all United States employees.3

Another sign of the PPP’s success? The simple fact that staggering numbers of jobs are being saved in each state. And the states with the fewest saved jobs tended to be less populous and received less funding, showing that there’s a direct correlation between the amount of PPP funding and the preservation of American jobs.

Does this mean we need more funding? It’s hard to tell at this point. Unemployment is dropping month by month,4 which is a sign of both businesses reopening and PPP funding going into effect across the country. If the decrease in unemployment ever plateaus, we may need to consider offering more PPP loans.

Methodology

We scoured through SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program loan-level data to find how many jobs were retained because of PPP loans. We then broke down data to see how each state was affected by the PPP loans granted to their small businesses.

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The takeaway

The Paycheck Protection Program has played a key role in helping businesses and their employees weather the economic crisis brought on by the global pandemic. With so many jobs saved already and unemployment rates decreasing every month, things are looking up for American workers.

Now, all we have left to do is keep our finger on the pulse of the unemployment rate to make sure it keeps decreasing. If unemployment stops decreasing or begins to rise again, we may have to consider further action to bolster the jobs market.

Sources:
1. U.S. Treasury Department, “PPP Loan Amount by State.” Accessed July 16, 2020.
2. U.S. Treasury Department, “Jobs Retained by State.” Accessed July 16, 2020.
3. U.S. Small Business Administration, “2019 Small Business Profile.” Accessed July 16, 2020.
4. Trading Economics, “United States Unemployment Rate.” Accessed July 16, 2020.

Andrew Mosteller
Written by
Andrew Mosteller
Former Business.org staff writer Andrew Mosteller covered small business expansion, management and advertising.
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