COLA Count Up Slightly

Through two months of the counting period used to determine the January 2004 cost-of-living adjustments for federal retirees, the COLA count stands at 0.5 percent, following an increase of 0.1 percent in November in the inflation measure used to determine the COLA. Retirees are in line for a 1.4 percent increase in January 2003 under the COLA count for that increase, which was completed two months ago.