COLA Count Slips Again

The inflation index used to set the January 2004 federal retiree cost-of-living adjustment fell in May for the second straight month and for the third time in the eight months elapsed in the current 12-month counting period. The drop in May of 0.2 percent brought the amount banked toward the COLA down to 1.6 percent; it had been 2.1 percent following the March inflation accounting.