The General Services Administration (GSA) announced that daily per diem rates in Standard areas for lodging and meals and incidental expenses (MI&E) will increase about 6 percent beginning October 1, 2010.  All of the increase for FY2011 comes in the daily lodging rate, which will increase to $77 from $70 in FY2010.  The MI&E rate will remain at $46.  The standard rate covers most of the 2,600 CONUS counties.  However, the daily lodging rates for the most of the 378 Non-Standard areas, for which rates are set individually, will actually decrease.  This will be especially true in many major cities, where hotels continue to lower their prices in response to a weak economy.  MI&E rates for Non-Standard areas will show little or no change in FY2011.  For a description of Per Diem Rates and the latest tables showing rates for Standard and Non-Standard Areas, go to the GSA Per Diem web site.