Average Wall Street bonus highest since 2008 crash: report
By Pat Bailey
The average bonus paid to Wall Street employees shot up 15 percent last year to $164,000 — the most since the economic collapse in 2008, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported Wednesday.
The sharp increase in bonuses came despite profits for the industry falling 30 percent, to $16.7 billion.
Workers were able to realize a jump in the much-anticipated bonus payouts thanks to compensation they deferred from previous years, DiNapoli said.
The total bonus pool swelled to $26.7 billion.
Despite the drop in profits, Wall Street revenues remained “strong” when compared to previous years’ receipts, DiNapoli said.
Wall Street has 165,200 jobs — about 12.6 percent of total payrolls — since the Great Recession.
The industry generated about $3.8 billion in city taxes in fiscal 2013 and $10.3 billion in state taxes.
“Whatever anyone’s opinion of Wall Street, it is still an important part of the city’s economy,” said DiNapoli, speaking in Manhattan in front of the Association for a Better New York. (READ MORE)
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