Wall Street bonuses plunged 17% in 2018

Wall Street recorded a record profit of $ 27.3 billion in 2018, but Wall Street's average bonus fell 17%.

"Despite the sharp decline in financial markets in the last quarter of 2018, the securities industry still had a good year with gains and employment growth," said Thomas DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller. "Profits grew in 2018 and almost doubled in comparison to 2015, but average bonuses declined, although they were almost double the average annual salary in the rest of the city's workforce."

The drop in the average bonus is partly due to changes in the federal tax code that encourage some companies to increase their payments by December 2017 instead of paying their employees in January 2018. The effect of this may have contributed to the decline in 2018.

Employment in the New York Securities industry increased by 3%, or 4,700 jobs, in 2018 to 181,300, the highest level in the last decade. However, the number of workers is still 4% lower than before the financial crisis.

The securities industry represents less than 5% of jobs in the private sector in the city but generates more than one fifth of private sector wages. DiNapoli estimates that nearly one in every 11 jobs in the city is directly or indirectly linked to Wall Street.

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