

President Obama ordered a relatively small pay raise for federal workers before heading out of town for his usual Hawaii holiday vacation. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

President Obama on Friday ordered a 1-percent pay raise for federal employees, giving them only their second mandatory wage increase in the past five years.

The salary bump will take effect on Jan. 1, marking the second year Obama provided a raise for the federal workforce after a three-year pay freeze. The 2014 increase was also 1 percent.

In a statement on Friday, National Treasury Employees Union Colleen M. Kelley described the last two increases as “inadequate to keep pace with rising costs.”

Obama halted mandatory pay increases for the government’s civilian employees from 2011 through 2012, largely because the nation was in the midst of its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Congress extended the wage freeze through 2013.

The pay hikes have varied in size by year, ranging from nearly 11 percent in 1972 to this year’s 1 percent. During the Obama presidency, the average raise for the federal workforce been lower than for any other administration dating back to at least 1970, based on data from a Congressional Research Service report.

Kelley vowed to fight for a greater increase for 2016. “A fair pay raise would benefit federal agencies in their efforts to recruit and retain talented employees,” she said.