80% of NYC workforce hit by wage cuts

I would never have called 80%

So basically everyone but bankers so a drop in their incomes?

Bankers are still making less than they were (bonuses still down 1/3 off peak last year, more so year before), particularly the crapper ones.

And don't forget the ones with no jobs and a lot less income.

"Bankers are still making less than they were (bonuses still down 1/3 off peak last year, more so year before), particularly the crapper ones."

Boo hoo.

*Sniff sniff* "My bonus is only $700,000 this year! I had to take a "massive" $300K pay "cut" this year!" *sniff sniff*

damn!!!

way to go off the point, NYCMatt.

Thanks for adding to the conversation.

I'd imagine all the govt employees make up the other 20% that did'nt get a pay cut.

forget no pay cuts, how about raises of 3%, 3%, and 4% the last 3 years!

To NYCMatt: *Sniff sniff* "My bonus is only $700,000 this year! I had to take a "massive" $300K pay "cut" this year!" *sniff sniff*

You confuse a discussion of an economic phenomenon with attmepts to imply pity for the wall streeters who make less than they did previously. (Fair disclosure: I am a wall streeter and have taken a pay hit.) There is certainly no reason to feel bad for the Wall Street. However, I think the thread was trying to address something different.

Irrespective of how one feels about Wall Street pay, Manhattan real estate prices were reflective of a certain level of total personal income generated in the city. Financial industry earnings are a big part of that income. As bonuses decline so does the ability and willingness of the bankers/hedge fund managers, etc. to bid up real estate. So the point of the thread is not about feeling bad for Wall Street, it is about the fact that total income earned in the city will be lowerby a certain %tage with corresponding trickle down effect into real estate prices.

"Financial industry earnings are a big part of that income."

Actually, less than 10% overall.

Uh, nope... 30%.

Seriously, Matt, do you just make this stuff up yourself? Or is there a website like madeupstats.com you use?

(and thats just the direct number, more indirect).

numbers from... city budget office

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/they_re_going_broker_tEc61CvwH7Zykhh1an1KVL?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

Wall St. pay plunge
By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief

Last Updated: 5:21 AM, June 9, 2010

Posted: 3:56 AM, June 9, 2010

Wages on Wall Street tumbled more last year than at any time in modern history -- including the Great Depression, according to a study released yesterday by the city's Independent Budget Office.

The IBO reported that securities-industry wages averaged $311,279 in 2009, down 21.5 percent from $396,370 the previous year, and down 24.6 percent from $412,915 in 2007.

IBO Senior Economist David Belkin said the numbers were so striking that he began digging for a similar period of such sharp declines, but couldn't find one.

"To me, the big surprise was that even during the Great Depression, when the industry was shrinking like mad, the wages were not falling the way they were last year," he said.

Combing historical records, Belkin determined that long-term stagnation rather than precipitous drops marked the dark days of the 1930s in the city's financial center.

When the Depression began in 1929, Wall Street workers were earning $3,172 on average. By 1932, they were making $2,925, about 8 percent less.

The IBO's figures appear to be at odds with those issued in February by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who pegged the average Wall Street salary last year at $340,000.

A DiNapoli spokesman said that was because the IBO adjusted for inflation and used revised federal data that wasn't available four months ago.

Belkin explained that it was possible for wages to nosedive as Wall Street profits soared because the earnings were based on bonuses handed out in 2009 but tied to performance in 2008, when brokerage houses posted record losses.

"Even with all this noise and outrage [over Wall Street payouts], when you look at the aggregate for the whole industry, bonuses collapsed 38 percent," he pointed out.

As a result, mayoral spokesman Marc LaVorgna said the city is counting on $12 billion less in sales and income taxes between fiscal 2008 and 2011.

James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said the IBO's numbers appeared to be correct but were a snapshot in time.

"They tell you more about 2008 profits and don't say anything about 2009," he said. "They're meaningful as a measure of the depths of the recession. They're not a reflection of the banner year Wall Street had in 2009."

david.seifman@nypost.com

It is also important to consider that 2-3 years ago cash was 80-90% of total compensation. Now it is 20-70% (depending on seniority and other circumstances). So, while nominal compensation is down 21.5%, CASH compensation is downd closer to 30-35%. Also, I agree with somewhereelse that NYCMatt is way off by claiming that Wall Street is less than 10% of total income in NYC. We also need to remember that when Wall Street income declines, it also declines for attoreys, accoountants, luxury item salespeople and many other professions in the city. A double dip in real estate prices is coming.

70% of NYC Residents Rent Their Homes - sorry I don't have a media reference

"Also, I agree with somewhereelse that NYCMatt is way off by claiming that Wall Street is less than 10% of total income in NYC. "

Yeah, its wackily off base.