North Carolina is the top state where people are searching for loans as the coronavirus shakes up the U.S. economy, a new report finds.
The state ranks No. 1 on a list of places "Where People Need Loans the Most Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic," according to the personal finance website WalletHub.
To come up with its findings, WalletHub says it used credit report and Google data from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., to compare inquiries from January to May. It also evaluated the popularity of three loan-related searches in each location this month, results released Wednesday show.
The Tar Heel State received top 10 scores for "loan" and "home equity loan" searches, according to WalletHub.
North Carolinians were looking up borrowing information the same month WalletHub named the state among the hardest-hit for unemployment as a result of the coronavirus.
Across the state, more than 1 million residents filed for jobless benefits between mid-March and early May, The News & Observer reported.
Some of the restrictions Gov. Roy Cooper implemented in March to help stop the spread of the coronavirus have been relaxed in the second phase of his plan to reopen the state. Bars, gyms, movie theaters and other businesses are still closed.
Overall, New York, Nebraska, Minnesota and Kansas rounded out the top five states for loan searches, according to WalletHub. Vermont residents were least interested in looking up that information, findings show.
