Over 150 Firms That Got U.S. Relief Aid Plan Layoffs, S&P Says

More than 150 U.S. businesses that received financing from the Paycheck Protection Program have announced plans to lay off employees, undercutting efforts to preserve jobs at pandemic-hit companies, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The companies, which include arts organizations, real estate firms and manufacturers, are estimated to have received between $291.6 million to $647.5 million in total PPP loans, S&P said in a report Thursday. And yet they had plans to cut 15,814 employees from May 1 to July 17.

The data isn’t comprehensive -- it relied on layoff notices and didn’t include information from all the states ...