Average Wall Street bonuses dropped sharply last year to $176,700 amid lagging profits and recession fears, New York state’s comptroller reported Thursday.

The bonuses for employees in New York City’s securities industry dropped 26% from 2021, when the average was a record $240,400, according to New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s annual estimate. DiNapoli noted that bonuses last year returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“Wall Street’s cash bonuses were expected to fall as several factors weighed on the securities’ industry profitability in 2022,” DiNapoli said in a prepared release.

The comptroller said Wall Street’s pretax profits fell 56% in 2022 due to a sharp decline in investment-banking fees driven by inflation, interest-rate hikes and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The bonus pool for 2022 was $33.7 billion, down 21% from the previous year’s record of $42.7 billion, according to the comptroller.

The securities industry plays a major role in state and city tax revenue, accounting for an estimated 22% of the state’s tax collections and 8% of collections for the city.

“Employment in leisure and hospitality, retail, restaurants and construction must continue to improve for the city and state to fully recover,” DiNapoli said.

(AP)