The worst could still be ahead for job cuts in the financial sector, with the world’s largest financial firms cutting as many as 175,000 jobs by this time next year, Bloomberg reported.

Citigroup Inc. plans to cut 10 percent of the staff, or about 6,500 jobs, in its investment banking division, according to reports Monday, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reported. The bank posted a quarterly loss of $5.11 billion in April and had cut at least 9,000 positions by the end of March.

It is one of several financial services companies that have announced plans to trim a total of more than 83,000 jobs since last July, according to Bloomberg’s figures.

New York has been hit hard, with a 3.5 percent decline in financial services jobs since last August. However, some analysts believe it could get as bad as the 2000-2003 market slump, when 17 percent of banking and securities jobs in New York were cut as technology-related shares plummeted.

New York-based Bear Stearns Cos. plans to fire 9,000 employees, or 66 percent of its work force, as a result of its acquisition by JPMorgan Chase & Co. UBS AG announced it will cut 7,000 jobs, and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has fired 6,300 employees.