By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Aug 1, 2007 13:06:44 EDT
The 3.5 percent military pay raise working its way through Congress may not even be felt when service members receive it in January.
As tentatively approved by the House and Senate, the 2008 raise is supposed to shave half a percentage point off the estimated 3.9 percent gap between average military and civilian pay. But because of the 15-month lag in writing and passing the budget, service members are more likely to compare their Jan. 1 increase to current civilian wages. On Tuesday, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that private-sector salaries are rising at an annual rate of about 3.4 percent, almost equal to the pending military raise.
More at http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/07/military_payraise_070731w/
