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Wall Street job losses are surprisingly low, and firms eye record profits
Main Street is reeling from mounting job losses and a grim outlook by Federal Reserve officials. Wall Street, on the other hand, may be enjoying a sharp rebound.
On Tuesday, a report by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli forecast that the number of vanishing finance jobs may be far lower than anticipated. Job cuts may not exceed 35,000 -- close to losses following the relatively minor recession of 2001, and much lower than the 47,000 officials had forecast while preparing New York City's budget in June. A year ago, many had forecast job losses exceeding 80,000.
"The national economy is slowly improving, but Wall Street has recovered much faster than anyone had envisioned," the report said. "Profitability is on track to exceed 2006 levels, which was a banner year for the industry."
Wall Street's fortunes stand in stark contrast to the labor market across the country; the 10.2% unemployment rate and 17.5% underemployment rate have soared past even bearish projections.