Due to the partial government shutdown, the Labor Department has delayed the announcement that had been scheduled for this morning of the inflation measure covering September that will finalize the annual retiree COLA count. No word yet on when the figure will come out. Through the first 11 months of the count the accumulated total was 1.5 percent, so the January increase most likely will be around that number. The COLA affects federal retirement, Social Security and veterans’ benefits, among others.
