Seniors looking for a 2013 cost-of-living-adjustment on par with this year’s 3.6 percent COLA may be disappointed, sees Grumpy Editor.
Media have been quiet on this outlook but the way things are shaping up, Social Security recipients will be lucky to get half that increase starting in January.
Despite Americans getting hit harder in the wallet, especially with food and energy, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics maintains consumer prices remained steady last month, continuing the long-heard line that “inflation pressures are contained” --- or “tame,” as the media like to describe it.
Figures from July, August and September will be averaged out to determine the 2013 COLA for about 60 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients.
BLS figures released last Wednesday show the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 1.3 percent over the last 12 months. But for July, the index decreased 0.2 percent prior to seasonal adjustment.
The CPI-W index for the third quarter this year vs. the like quarter last year is the key factor in determining the SS and SSI increase for 2013.
Seniors can get another hint of the CPI direction with BLS’s release of August figures on Sept. 14.
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