Good morning. In the battle for top financial centers in the U.S., the latest bonus season looks promising for New York City and the state. The nation's biggest banks have been reporting gangbuster profits so far; third-quarter results will come next week, when investors and finance professionals will get the latest clues on the health of financial services firms, my colleague Ben Glickman reports.
The industry overall is on pace for more than $90 billion in profits, according to fresh data from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. That in turn is good for the upcoming bonus season-and regional finance professionals and the local economy. I asked Ben why:
What is driving this record bonus boom?
Bonuses track with Wall Street's results, more or less, and times are very, very good in finance. Markets are volatile, which is good for banks' businesses facilitating trades on behalf of clients, and the AI boom demands seemingly endless new financing. (JPMorgan Chase) CEO Jamie Dimon last quarter literally said, "It's getting close to as good as it gets."
Why is this trend such a positive measure for New York City and the state?
The securities industry is a big source of tax revenue for New York City and the state (especially so for the latter, because the state doesn't have the benefit of local property tax revenue). Securities industry taxes last year were about one-fifth of all state tax collections. Every year, when laying out each entity's budgets, officials make projections about how income, and thus taxes, will fare. The state now expects the bonus pool to grow, when it previously expected a decline year-over-year.
Texas has been looking to grow its finance industry and rival New York. Does the fresh data tell us anything about its progress?
Texas is the third-ranked state for finance employment, but it's growing faster than New York on a percentage basis: From 2019 to 2025, it grew nearly 26%, compared with New York's 12% growth. So, Texas' efforts to woo new stock listings and attract offices from major financial institutions have produced some results. But in terms of actual numbers, New York employs the most people in the securities industry by a sizable margin, and in the first quarter of 2026 it added nearly double the finance jobs that Texas did. There's still plenty of work to do.
Dive deeper
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Live Coverage: Wall Street Gets Some Good News on Bonuses
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Quotable
"The consumer willingness to buy is very low. If you are not confident, the car is probably one of the things you say: Let's keep this car another year."Volvo Chief Executive Håkan Samuelsson, regarding the U.S. consumers appetite for purchasing cars, during an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
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