1.4 million

The number of jobs the U.S. economy would lose if the federal government implements a Biden administration plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The plan calls for raising the minimum incrementally from the current rate of $7.25 per hour.

900,000 

The number of Americans the minimum wage plan would elevate above the poverty line, according to the CBO.

$54 billion

The amount the wage plan would raise the ­federal budget deficit by 2031.

$31.4 trillion

The CBO’s projected national debt by the end of 2030, not taking into account the plan to raise the minimum wage.

17 million

The number of workers making less than $15 per hour whose pay the wage plan would increase by 2025.

33% 

The number of small business owners who said in a CNBC poll a $15 minimum wage would force them to lay some workers off.

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$11.4 billion

The amount in unemployment benefits involving fraud the state of California has paid out during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. That figure is 10 percent of pandemic-related benefits the state has paid. A state audit blamed protocols at the department for not safeguarding benefit payments.

$60M 

The amount of cash the U.S. Justice Department has seized in investigating fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program payments.

$1.1B

Overpayments made as part of the Department of Labor’s unemployment insurance program between March and December 2020.

$156M

The amount the U.S. Small Business Administration loaned to ineligible businesses as part of pandemic relief programs.

$1.4B 

The amount of the federal government’s first round of economic impact payments that went to dead people.

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86.7%

The percentage of COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed to North Dakota that the state had administered as of Jan. 25, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine was going well in some states in late January while creeping along slowly in others. West Virginia was the first state to finish administering the first dose to patients in all long-term care facilities.

83.9% 

The percentage of COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed to West Virginia that the state had administered as of Jan. 25.

79.6%

The percentage of COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed to New Mexico that the state had administered as of Jan. 25.

44.4% 

The percentage of COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed to Kansas that the state had administered as of Jan. 25.

45.1% 

The percentage of COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed to Virginia that the state had administered as of Jan. 25.

47.2%

The percentage of COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed to Rhode Island that the state had administered as of Jan. 25.

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