President Joe Biden is proposing a historic 5.2% pay raise for federal employees in 2024 that, if enacted, would be the largest pay increase since the Carter administration in 1980. John Hatton, staff vice president for policy and programs at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, states that this number is based on the recent change in the BLS's employment cost index, and is a solid step towards compensation reform.

The raise proposed is still lower than the 8.7% raise demanded by both Democrats in the House and Senate as well as federal employee unions. This includes a 4.7% across-the-board raise, couped with a 4% increase in locality pay. Unions still believe this 8.7% figure is more appropriate to offset years of below-average pay increases and hikes in inflation.

The president’