Federal retirees will receive no cost-of-living adjustment in their pension checks in 2010, the government announced Thursday.
The annual increase for federal retirees is based on the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index for urban wage grade earners from the third quarter of one year to the same quarter of the next. This year, prices for consumer goods failed to increase, meaning there will be no cost of living adjustments for Social Security and federal civilian and military retirees next year.
Retirement checks in 2009 increased 5.8 percent for Civil Service Retirement System retirees and 4.8 percent for Federal Employees Retirement System retirees, marking the highest increase since 1982.
On Wednesday, President Obama unveiled a proposal that would provide a one-time payment of $250 to 57 million Americans, including about 1 million public sector retirees who are ineligible for Social Security, Supplemental Security Income or veterans benefits. The proposal would provide an additional year of the $250 payments available in 2009 under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the White House said.
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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