Wall Street bonuses fell $30K in 2018 despite profit upturn

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York state's comptroller says the average bonus paid to Wall Street security industry employees dipped by more than $30,000 despite an 11 percent increase in securities industry profits in 2018.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's (dee-NAP'-uh-lee) annual estimate of the average bonus paid to security industry employees was released Tuesday.

The Democrat's report says the average bonus fell 17 percent, from $184,400 in 2017 to $153,700 last year.

DiNapoli says the average bonus grew by 18 percent in 2018. He says that's partly because of changes in the federal tax code that encouraged Wall Street brokerage firms to move up bonus payments to December 2017.

The annual accounting by the state's top elected fiscal officer serves as an indicator of how the financial services industry is doing.