Wall Street Jobs Evaporate, With More Losses to Come

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Employment in the securities industry suffered its third quarterly decline, with over 4,400 jobs lost during the first three months of 2012, according to a Wall Street trade group. Expect more of the same in the months ahead.

The industry now employs 800,100 brokers, traders and investment bankers across the U.S., according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

"[The drop in jobs] came after the very disappointing industry results in the previous quarter, when the broker-dealers posted a quarterly loss of $67.6 million," the statement added.

Hardest by the Wall Street retrenchment was the tri-state area of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, which lost 900 securities-industry jobs during the quarter. The New York City region represents a third of all securities positions in the U.S.

The bloodletting in the investment banking and securities industry will likely continue in 2012. Earlier this month, Bank of America (BAC) said it would cut 2,000 positions in its investment banking, commercial banking and non-U.S. wealth-management units. Credit Suisse (CS) said it plans to eliminate at least 3,500 jobs after it reported a 96% decline in first-quarter profit.