New research has shown that small businesses have emerged from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in no better shape than when they received the loan.

Gusto, a payroll and benefits provider for 100,000 small businesses, found that rolling off of PPP requirements at a time when the economy has not recovered from the toll of the pandemic, and when this winter threatens to exact an even more devastating toll, has left businesses in the lurch. A further 2.8 million jobs are now at risk.

Its research showed that as the PPP covered period expired in November, companies reduced active employment by a statistically significant 0.43 percent.

This drop in weekly net headcount change from +0.22 percent to -0.21 percent represents a 200 percent swing from net headcount growth to net terminations.

As a result of PPP employment requirements expiring, more than 900,000 jobs were lost within the first 4 weeks. This represents approximately 40 percent of the 2.3 million jobs that PPP has been credited with saving. KEEP READING

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