New CPI Count Starts

With the January 2004 cost-of-living adjustment for federal retirees recently set-2.1 percent for CSRS retirees and 2.0 percent for FERS retirees eligible for COLAs-the count toward the January 2005 COLA already has started. During October, the first month of the measuring period for the January 2005 COLA, the inflation index used to set the COLA rose 0.2 percent.