According to a report released Wednesday by New York State Comptroller Thomas Di Napoli, investment bank employees on Wall Street received an average of $257 to $500 in bonuses last year, a record high, Business Insider writes.

Overall, the increase in bonuses totaled 20% and surpassed the previous record high, which was set in 2020. The New York State securities market bonus pool grew 21% year-over-year to reach $45 billion in 2021.

“Growing Wall Street earnings exceeded expectations in 2021 and delivered record bonuses,” Di Napoli wrote in the report.

The report also notes that workers in the securities sector make up just 5% of private sector employment in New York City. However, their wages account for 20% of total private sector wages. The securities industry accounted for 18% of the state’s tax collections last year.

According to the New York State Comptroller, the average premium in the securities industry has more than doubled since the 2008 financial crisis.

This growth, despite the pandemic, occurred in 2020 due to mergers and acquisitions, more prominent in the second half of the year, as well as market volatility that spurred trading activity and consequently increased revenues for securities firms. Banks also began raising bonuses to attract and retain workers.

The rapid growth of bonuses on Wall Street in recent decades has contributed to gender and racial disparities, according to the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). Men make up 62% of all workers in the stock market, and black workers hold 7.2% of those jobs in the US.

“These staggering numbers are the latest evidence of pandemic inequality,” said Sarah Anderson, director of global economics at IPS. – While ordinary workers struggle with the rising costs of basic necessities, Wall Street bankers’ bonuses are soaring higher and higher.”