80% of NYC private-sector workforce hit by wage cuts

[FarCenter]

Four out of five New Yorkers worked in private sector industries that suffered wage cuts last year, according to data released Friday by the city's Independent Budget Office.

The sheer number of employees impacted by the Great Recession helps explain why the city's economic fortunes appeared so much gloomier than the relatively low job loss data suggested.

All told, the city is expected to have shed 173,000 jobs during the recession, not nearly as bad as the 300,000 initially predicted by Mayor Bloomberg and well below the losses suffered during the last two recessions.

Measured by wage loss, the Great Recession was the worst in history, the budget office said even though job losses – usually considered the best barometer of the city's economy -- indicated a relatively mild recession.

Much attention has been focused on the hit the city's economy has taken from plunging Wall Street bonuses. Securities industry compensation declined by $22 billion, or 30%, from 2008 to 2009, according to an earlier estimate by the IBO; other financial and insurance sector compensation fell by $3 billion, or 16.5%.

But the budget office said today that salaries for workers outside the securities industry took a major dive, too. Real wages dropped an average 4.8% in 2009.

Across the board, total compensation fell by $31.7 billion, or 10.4%, with more than two-thirds of the decline attributable to the securities industry.

<SNIP>http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100521/FREE/100529955

[MadMaddie]

1. The worker bees suffered wage cuts did the CEO's?

[FarCenter]

3. CEO pay dropped from extremely outrageous to outrageous

[aquart]

2. Plunging bonuses? Oh, who, please?

[FarCenter]

4. A fairly large percentage of employees at financial firms get a bonus

In good times maybe 5 to 15% of annual compensation would be in a year end bonus.

[aquart]

5. Those are very low level people indeed.

See, going a wee bit above in grade has very unimpressive "annual compensation" of say, $250,000 and a bonus anywhere from $2 to $30 million in an off year. Unless things have really changed from the 90s.

[Go2Peace]

6. In other era's wouldn't this be called deflation?

[n2doc]

7. But the top 1% are doing verrrrry good.

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