Social Security COLA Update: What Today’s Inflation Report Means for Seniors
Friday's figures bring the final 2027 COLA calculation closer to completion.
The Social Security Administration has released the second inflation reading that will influence the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for millions of seniors. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which the agency uses to calculate COLA, rose 3.5 percent from August 2025 to August 2026.
This figure is crucial because it, rather than the widely reported headline inflation rate, determines the annual adjustment to Social Security payments. The CPI-W stood at 328.481 in August, up from 317.265 in the third quarter of 2025. Only September's CPI-W reading remains to be released, with the Social Security Administration waiting for the final data to announce the official 2027 COLA, which will take effect in December 2026.
The COLA, which was 2.8 percent in 2026, is expected to increase slightly based on the current inflation data.
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