WALL STREET WOES

The bear market clawed a huge37% chunk out of year-end bonuseson Wall Street. The total bonuspackage for securities industry employeesplunged to $7.9 billion in2002, down from $12.6 billion theprevious year. It marked the secondconsecutive year of declining bonuses,the first time that has happenedin 2 decades. The averagebonus last year was $48,500, whichisn't exactly chump change, but farfrom the average of $72,600 handedout in 2001, and less than half the$104,600 average in 2000. Bonuseswent to 164,000 employees lastyear, down from 173,700 in 2001and 185,800 in 2000. Both NewYork Governor George Pataki andNYC Mayor Michael Bloomberghave blamed lower salaries on WallStreet for at least part of the fiscalcrisis facing the state and the city.