Wall Street may lose 36,000 jobs

[marmar]

Wall Street may lose 36,000 jobs
By Joan Gralla
1 hour, 36 minutes ago



NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street, the lifeblood of New York City's economy, could lose over 36,000 jobs because the financial credit crisis has rocked markets and stunned the U.S. economy, estimated James Brown, a labor market analyst with New York state's labor department.

"History suggests it's going to be something of that magnitude," Brown told Reuters, noting Wall Street employment peaked at 200,300 in December 2000, nine months before the September 11, 2001 air attacks.

Losing one in five jobs on Wall Street could have dire consequences for the city's economy.

Brown's estimate was almost double the 20,000 job loss over the next two years that the city's Independent Budget Office forecast in March.

At the end of last month, there were 182,300 people working at banks and brokerages, down more than 5,000 jobs since September. The smaller scope of the layoffs seen so far, however, likely reflects the lag between the end of severance payments and when job hunters file for unemployment benefits, Brown explained.

Unlike much of the nation, layoffs and falling profits on Wall Street pose a bigger risk to New York City's economy than the housing-led downturn that threatens the nation, according to economists and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Bankers, brokers and traders earned an average salary and bonus of $340,312 a year in 2006, Brown said.

Wall Street's total compensation amounts to almost 35 percent of all salaries and wages earned in the city, according to city officials. The taxes that Wall Street's denizens and their employers pay mean the city's finances mirror this sector's roller-coaster cycles.

BUILDING MAY COME TO A STANDSTILL

Real estate and the construction industry, however, remain a vital part of the city's economy. As the credit crisis roils the lending market, economists are studying how the unwillingness or inability of banks to lend to developers could choke what has been until now an extraordinary construction boom in New York City.

"If you have a period in which employment is declining, they stop building office space, they stop building almost everything," Brown said. "When we had multi-year slowdowns, in the early 1970s, the late 1980s and early 1990s, you saw dramatic slowdowns in construction." ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080424/ts_nm/economy_wallstreet_layoffs_dc_5

[LSparkle]

1. Sorry, I won't shed a tear over those

Hopefully some of those people kept their big bonuses to live off when
they get the axe.

[leftofthedial]

2. that's a start

[dysfunctional press]

3. considering how many jobs they've been the CAUSE of having been lost...

i'd say that it's long overdue, but also too little too late.

[Fresh_Start]

6. I don't think the brokers make those decisions

the CEOs and corporate executives AND the financial analysts but not the people who will lose their jobs here

[dysfunctional press]

10. the brokers most certainly did have an effect on companies offshoring to protect share price...

and they made plenty of money on other people's misery- let them have a taste too.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. 36,000 less Wall Street employees means a great impact on bars, restaurants,

health clubs, etc., which really ARE the life blood of that part of the City.

[Romulox]

11. Not to mention BMW dealerships, Rolex watch venders, and caviar futures!

Oh noes!

Perhaps some music will ease the pain?

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[madinmaryland]

5. It's not the Stock Brokers and financial analysist that will get hard.

Think of the IT folks, admin's, and low level employees that will get whacked. I've been there and that's who gets hit.

[panAmerican]

7. 36,000 is an optimistic number, imho

[cloudbase]

8. Sell your

SCORES stock.

[Johonny]

9. But the imaginary Ben Stein

assured us the drop in the stock market was a conspiracy and these wall street guys were cleaning up. Could he be wrong?

[Zynx]

13. This is not related to a fall in the stock market. The declines there haven't been too bad.

What this has more to do with is the plunge in the mortgage securitization business as well as other investment banking activity.

[Zynx]

12. The securitization boom was a bubble like any other. There was a surplus

of employment in financial services.

[Peace Patriot]

14. What Osama bin Laden could not accomplish, Bushite malfeasance and looting surely can. nt

[Jack Rabbit]

15. You mean Wall Street bankers will have to go to WORK????

. . . snd actually EARN the money they take home?

Hey, guys, it builds character.

[NuttyFluffers]

16. the horror, the horror...

compassion or schadenfreuden?
:dilemma:

oh, i gave to panhandlers the last time i walked down SF streets, so i guess i'm due a little indulgence... besides, i doubt any of them will end up ambling the Tenderloin anytime soon.

[midnight]

17. In case you missed the movie Fun With Dick and Jane, this

movie does deal with the financial world and what happens in a town that is supported by a big corporation. Ie. Enron. Well it is very informative and tells the story from an angle with humor. But these events are not funny.