COLA

[manOman]

OK, the July figures for the Consumer Price Index came out yesterday, and the series that the USPS & NRLCA use to calculate the COLA actually dropped from the June number. Here's the updated list:

2009

Jan.  612.719  <trigger month>
Feb. 615.719
Mar. 617.239
Apr. 619.344
May 621.875
June 628.422
July 627.093  <trigger month>


2008

Jan.  615.828   <trigger month>
Feb. 617.345  
Mar. 622.985
Apr. 627.606
May 633.830
June 641.082
July  644.303  <trigger month>
Aug. 641.155
Sep. 640.226
Oct. 632.025
Nov. 617.472
Dec. 610.075


So, the number for July 2009 (627.093 )  is above the number for January (612.719),  BUT it is nowhere near the number for July 2008 (644.303) which gave us one of the biggest COLA increases ever. The contract language is a little tricky (what else is new?), but it seems to me that the CPI would have to go above that July 2008 figure to trigger a new COLA increase. What I'm saying is that I think the COLA increase for this period will be zero. Interestingly, the NALC site, which is usually right on top of the COLA numbers, isn't showing an update following the release of the July figure. Maybe their web-head is on vacation...