The announcement of Social Security's annual inflation adjustment to benefits has been delayed due to the government shutdown, but the agency responsible for handling the benefit increase has set a date for releasing the data next week.
Social Security benefits undergo a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) every year, which updates benefit amounts to account for inflation over the last year. The size of the annual COLA is determined by the rise in the consumer price index (CPI) over the prior year.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the CPI on a monthly basis to gauge how much higher inflation has pushed consumer prices. However, the September CPI data that was supposed to be released Oct. 15 and complete the COLA calculation was delayed by the government shutdown.