Weep not for Wall Street.
Profits in the securities industry surged by 21% to $17.3 billion in pre-tax profits with the average bonus increasing 1% to $138,210 in 2016, according to estimates released Wednesday by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
The bonus pool for all securities industry jobs rose 2% to reach $23.9 billion, said the comptroller.
The estimates did not factor in stock options or other forms of deferred compensation for which taxes were not withheld.
The securities industry also logged its third year of job gains, adding 3,800 jobs in 2016 for a total of 177,000 — the highest level since the financial crisis. This follows growth of 2,800 more jobs in 2014 and 4,500 in 2015.
Wall Street generates more than one-fifth of all private sector wages in the city, even though it accounts for only 5% of all private sector jobs.
How different are Wall Street wages? The average salary including bonuses was $388,000 in 2015 — the last year for which the comptroller had figures. That is five times higher than averages in the rest of the private sector. About 23% of the industry’s employees make more than $250,000 a year, compared to only 2% of the rest of the city’s work force.
Tax collections should be close to those forecast, DiNapoli concluded.
