News & information
2018 Retiree cost-of-living (COLA) projection: 0.1 percent as of November 2016
The 2018 cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) benefits will be based on the increase in the average Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) between the third quarter of 2016 (235.057) and the third quarter of 2017 (TBA).
Based on today’s release of the November 2016 CPI-W (1982-84=100) of 235.215, the 2018 CSRS and FERS COLAs are currently projected to be 0.1 percent. CSRS annuities receive full COLAs; COLAs for FERS annuities are payable for retirees 62 and older and may be reduced by up to one percentage point from the increase in the CPI.
2017 FECA COLA Projection: 1.9%
Based on today’s release of the November 2016 CPI-W (1982-84=100), the 2017 Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) COLA is currently projected to be 1.9 percent. The November 2016 CPI-W (235.215) was 1.9 percent above the December 2015 base index (230.791).
FECA COLAs are applicable only in cases where death or disability occurred more than one year prior to the adjustment’s effective date.
2017 Retiree COLAs: 0.3%
As previously announced, the 2017 COLAs for CSRS and FERS benefits will be 0.3 percent. The COLAs become effective January 2017.
The 2017 COLAs for CSRS and FERS benefits are based on the increase in the average CPI-W between the 3rd quarter of 2014 (234.242) and the 3rd quarter of 2016 (235.057).
CSRS annuities receive full COLAs; COLAs for FERS annuities are payable for retirees 62 and older and may be reduced by up to one percentage point from the increase in the CPI.
7th Contract COLA was $0 (last COLA of the 2011-2016 National Agreement)
The January 2016 CPI-W (1967=100) was 688.259, an increase of 16.360 points over the contract’s July 2012 base index of 671.899. Each full 0.4 point increase above the base index equals a 1 cent per hour increase. As a result, there was no 7th COLA.
The 7th COLA calculation was made by: (1) calculating the cents per hour increase from the base index to the current index and (2) subtracting the contract COLAs that have already been announced from the amount calculated in step 1.
Since the current cents per hour increase from the base index (40 cents per hour) is lower than the already announced contract COLAs (66 cents per hour total), the 7th COLA projection is 0 cents per hour (no COLA).
The six COLAs previously announced under the 2011-2016 National Agreement, totaling 66 cents per hour, are as follows: 1st COLA, 7 cents per hour ($146 annually), 2nd COLA, 26 cents per hour ($541 annually), 3rd COLA, 0 cents per hour ($0 annually), 4th COLA, 33 cents per hour ($686 annually), 5th COLA, 0 cents per hour ($0 annually), and 6th COLA, 0 cents per hour ($0 annually).