Some Wall Street leaders have said AI will eliminate some roles, but ultimately increase head count. Banks' analyst classes probably won't swap fresh-faced college grads for bots -- at least not this year.

Layoff and hiring rates have been low for months. That may be starting to change, and not in a good way. Job cuts announced last month hit their highest January total since 2009, according to a report released Thursday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.