Cost of Living Adjustment2
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| a The COLA for December 1999 was originally determined as 2.4 percent based on CPIs published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pursuant to Public Law 106-554, however, this COLA is effectively now 2.5 percent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Social Security Administration projects no cost-of-living increases for the next two years because the adjustments are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year, largely because energy prices are below 2008 levels. It will be the first time without an increase since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.
Source: The Enquirer Sept. 25, 2009. House moves to stop Medicare hikes. By Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press.
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Wages and benefits rise a weak 1.5 percent in 2009
The Associated Press (Enquirer 2/1/2010)
For the entire year, wages and benefits were up 1.5 percent, the weakest showing on record that go back to 1982. The 1.5 percent increase in total compensation in 2009 was about half the 2.6 percent increase in 2008, and both years had the smallest gains for the government’s Employment Compensation Index.
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Last year, wages were up by 1.5% and benefits rose by the same 1.5%, both record lows. In 2008, wages and salaries were up 2.7% and benefits which cover such things as health insurance and pension contributions, rose by 2.2 percent.
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The slow growth in employee compensation has allowed the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates at record low levels in an effort to jumpstart economic activity because wage pressures, often a major force driving inflation higher, have been absent.
