Here's an interesting perspective from the Dec 2008 edition of Naval Reserve Association News. This chart compares military pay raises to retiree/Social Security COLAs, but the two are roughly equivalent to the Employer Cost Index (ECI) and CPI.
Year… Military pay… COLA
2009…3.9%............5.8%
2008…3.5%............2.3%
2007…2.2%............3.3%
2006…3.1%............4.1%
2005…3.5%............2.7%
2004…3.4%............2.1%
2003…4.1%............1.4%
2002…4.6%............2.6%
2001…3.7%............3.5%
2000…4.8%............2.5%
Compounded…43.5%...34.7%
I retired in 2002 while my spouse kept working. So my 2003-2009 COLAs have raised my pension by 23% while her pay went up an equivalent 26%. Of course this pay calculation doesn't include pay raises for longevity or targeted ranks, so the actual disparity is more than 3%. Good thing, too-- she worked hard for it and I'd hate for my relative indolence to be keeping pace.
Here's a longer-term analysis from Tom Philpott:
Retired Pay Differences Rise