I think the numbers were tinkered with for years...I think the same on the COLA.......somehow, when it benefits the govt, the stats get tweaked, twisted, arranged, dropped, or entirely changed...
Whenever the party is being judged by a metric, and that same party is in charge of measuring that same metric, you are going to have the desire and the eventual act of manipulation of said metric.
FDR created “retirement” as a norm to help winnow the Unemployment rolls 80 years ago. Every administration since has just added to the manipulation mess.