How is an automatic cost-of-living increase calculated?
(a) Increase based on the CPI. We compute the average of the CPI for the quarters that begin and end the measuring period by adding the three monthly CPI figures, dividing the total by three, and rounding the result to the same number of decimal places as the published CPI figures. If the number of decimal places in the published CPI values differs between those used for the beginning and ending quarters, we use the number for the ending quarter. If the average for the ending quarter is higher than the average for the beginning quarter, we divide the average for the ending quarter by the average of the beginning quarter to determine the percentage increase in the CPI over the measuring period. (b) Increase based on the AWI. If the AWI for the year that ends the measuring period is higher than the AWI for the year which begins the measuring period and all the other conditions for an AWI-based increase are met, we divide the higher AWI by the lower AWI to determine the percentage increas
