City bonuses down 13% on last year

City bonuses slumped at the start of the year, official figures reveal today.

They fell 13 per cent in January compared with a year earlier. Total bonuses - as a weekly average for the one million people employed in the City - dropped from £786 in January 2007 to £681 for the first month of this year, down £105.

Some bonuses may have been delayed but the figures appeared to confirm lower special pay-outs in December, which were down from an average of £281 to £140.

Despite the fall from record bonuses last year, the figures are still higher than in 2006, when the average weekly bonus for January was £550.

The Office for National Statistics data came after Goldman Sachs warned of cuts to pay and bonuses. On average, its employees could get £200,000 this year, compared with more than £300,000 last year.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable welcomed the fall but warned it could be a sign of gloomier economic times.