For a second year in a row Social Security increases will be historically low. Preliminary figures put the raise at about 1.5 percent.
Next year’s raise will be smaller because consumer prices haven’t gone up much in the past year, according to figures from the government. The exact size of the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) won’t be known until the Labor Department releases September’s inflation report.
The report was supposed to be published on October 9th, but the news media has stated that the government shutdown delayed it. The COLA announcement is made in October, so that Social Security and other benefit programs have time to adjust their January payments.
While the shutdown has delayed and halted several projects, reports, and payments, social security benefits haven’t been affected. The Social Security Administration hasn’t indicated whether raises will be delayed because of the shutdown either.
