0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Fairfield, CT New York,

NY

San

Francisco,

CA

Suffolk, MA Cook, IL Mecklenburg,

NC

Los Angeles,

CA

Middlesex,

NJ

Hudson, NJ Hennepin,

MN

Q05/3 Q05/4 Q06/1 Q06/2

Wages and bonuses in investment banking

Summary 07-07/ August 2007 U.S. Department of Labor U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Continued on back

Average Weekly Wages in Investment Banking and Securities Dealing, Selected Counties,

Third Quarter 2005 through Second Quarter 2006

County

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

Fairfield,

CT

New York,

NY

San

Francisco,

CA

Suffolk,

MA

Cook,

IL

Mecklenburg, NCLos

Angeles,

CA

Middlesex,

NJ

Hudson,

NJ

Hennepin,

MN

Dollars

25,000

For people working in investment

banking, especially those in and

around Wall Street, it’s hard to deny

that late 2005 and early 2006 was

very, very good to them. With

steady employment totals, very

handsome bonuses being handed

out in fourth quarter 2005, and even

larger ones awarded in first quarter

2006, it would seem to be an understatement to say that investment

banking was thriving. In first quarter 2006, private sector investment

banking and securities dealing recorded average weekly wages of

$8,367, well above that of any industry with the exception of the

other Wall Street bonus giant, securities brokerage. The investment

banking industry’s quarterly total

wages ranged from $6 billion to

$18.9 billion in late 2005 and early

2006 and the industry’s average

weekly wage was nearly 10 times

the national average.

Within this industry a small number of counties accounted for a large

proportion of the wages. Five counties were responsible for 71.8 percent of total wages in investment

banking during the first quarter of

2006. Fairfield, Connecticut, New

York, San Francisco, Los Angeles,

and Cook County, Illinois, combined

for wages of $13.5 billion from January through March 2006. During

this time, 38.3 percent of March employment in investment banking was

within these five counties.

Of the top ten counties, ranked

by average weekly wages, within the

investment banking and securities

dealing industry, four were in or

around New York City. New York

County, also known as the Borough

of Manhattan, is the behemoth of

the industry, accounting for one quarter of national employment and over

half of total wages. In a distant second, but still well above the other

counties in terms of total wages, is

Fairfield County, Connecticut, just

outside of New York City. Two other

counties that recorded high average

weekly wages in this region lie across

the Hudson River in New Jersey,

where Middlesex County and

Hudson County ranked eighth and

ninth, respectively, in average

weekly wages in first quarter 2006.

New York County is the largest

in the U.S. in terms of total wages

and employment in investment

banking. Over the four quarters

from the third quarter of 2005

through the second quarter of 2006,

total wages averaged $4.4 billion and

employment averaged 44,684 jobs.

In the first quarter of 2006 New York

County accounted for 51.4 percent

of total wages in the industry while

making up 25.6 percent of employment in the industry. At $16,849,

New York County experienced the

second highest average weekly

wages in investment banking and

securities dealing of any county in

the U.S. in first quarter 2006.

Though New York County in

terms of sheer employment and

wage totals is by far the leading

county in investment banking and

securities dealing, it did not record

the highest average weekly wages in

the industry. That distinction belongs to Fairfield, Connecticut, home

to the Town of Greenwich. In

Fairfield County, average weekly

wages reached a high of $23,846 in

first quarter 2006. Fairfield also

ranked second in the industry in total wages over this time period and

fifth in employment. Total wages

in the first quarter of 2006 were $1.9

billion and March 2006 employment

was 6,137 jobs. Fairfield County

accounted for 9.9 percent of total

wages in the industry while making

up 3.5 percent of employment during the quarter.

Across the board, the investment

banking and securities dealing industry experienced large increases in

total wages and average weekly

wages in the first quarter of 2006

relative to the quarters before and

after. This appears to be the effect

of large bonuses given out during the

first quarter and becomes more significant the higher the base wage

level. Thus, the effect is most noticeable in New York and Fairfield

Counties. In the four quarters between third quarter 2005 and second quarter 2006, New York’s first

quarter 2006 average weekly wage

was $10,589 higher than the next

highest. Fairfield’s difference in first
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Bureau of Labor Statistics

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2 Massachusetts Ave., NE

Washington, DC 20212-0001

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quarter 2006 is even greater, $13,896

more than the second highest quarter in this period. To a lesser extent,

a similar pattern seems to appear in

the fourth quarter of 2005 for a number of counties. The counties with

the five highest average weekly wage

levels from third quarter 2005 to

second quarter 2006 experienced the

second highest average weekly wage

in fourth quarter 2005. It should be

noted that this bonus effect is not

unique to 2006; rather it is something that historically occurs during

most years.

These data were obtained by the

Quarterly Census of Employment

and Wages in the Bureau of Labor

Statistics. Data presented here are

for all workers covered by State and

Federal unemployment insurance

programs. The data are not adjusted

for non-economic changes, such as

changes occurring when employers

update the location information of

their establishments. Large counties

refer to those counties with employment levels of 75,000 or more

in 2005. For additional information, contact Pete Smith, an economist in the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover, Office of Employment and

Unemployment Statistics. E-mail:

smith.peter.w@bls.gov. Telephone:

202-691-6567.

Information in this summary

will be made available to sensoryimpaired individuals upon request.

Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

This report is in the public domain

and may be reproduced without

permission.

Employment and Wages in Top Ten Counties in Investment Banking and Securities Dealing

First Quarter 2006

National .................................................... 132,538,199 $1,438.8 $841 173,430 $18.9 $8,367 0.1 1.3

Fairfield, CT ............................................. 363,421 9.2 1,949 6,137 1.9 23,846 1.7 20.7

New York, NY ......................................... 1,814,528 65.4 2,773 44,356 9.7 16,849 2.4 14.8

San Francisco, CA ................................. 437,197 8.8 1,548 3,697 0.7 14,177 0.8 8.0

Suffolk, MA.............................................. 484,609 9.8 1,557 1,991 0.2 8,564 0.4 2.0

Cook, IL .................................................... 2,177,229 30.1 1,062 8,324 0.9 7,943 0.4 3.0

Mecklenburg, NC ..................................... 466,938 7.3 1,198 2,420 0.2 7,909 0.5 2.7

Los Angeles, CA ..................................... 3,564,983 42.9 925 4,830 0.5 7,231 0.1 1.2

Middlesex, NJ .......................................... 395,316 5.5 1,080 2,865 0.3 7,121 0.7 5.5

Hudson, NJ .............................................. 235,121 4.0 1,317 9,163 0.5 4,297 3.9 12.5

Hennepin, MN .......................................... 740,451 10.3 1,065 6,581 0.3 4,084 0.9 2.9

Total

Wages

(billions)

March

Employment

Average

Weekly

Wage

March

Employment

Total Wages

(billions)

Average

Weekly

Wage

Percent of

Total Private

Employment

Percent of

Total Private

Total Wages

Total Private Investment Banking