Congratulations: You’ve survived. Or, you haven’t and are still bitterly reading a Wall Street blog. No matter. The first group of you may be 1,000 members fewer this year, but you’ll be $ 20 billion richer by the time the last bonus checks go out.

New York securities firms will pay employees $ 20 billion in cash bonuses, up from $ 18.5 billion for 2011. The projected increase follows a steep decline of 19% for such payouts a year ago. Even so, bonuses remain about 42% below the lofty levels of 2006, when the pool totaled $ 34.3 billion….

The average cash bonus rose 9% to roughly $ 121,900. The figure increased more than the total cash bonus pool because it was shared among fewer workers than the prior year, the report said.

Employment totaled 169,700 jobs as of December 2012, 1,000 fewer jobs than in December 2011, as the securities industry shrank again In response to fearful markets and muted client activity. The report estimated that Wall Street lost 28,300 job from November 2007 to January 2010, but has added only 8,500 so far during the recovery from the global financial crisis.

Wall Street’s Cash Bonus Pool Hits $ 20 Billion [WSJ]