The CPI-W rose 3.9% in September from a year earlier, its second-largest annual increase this year after May’s 4.4%, which sets the basis for Social Security’s 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2027, the fifth largest in 35 years. Social Security uses the CPI-W rather than the CPI-U, which rose 3.7%, because it focuses on hourly wage earners and clerical workers, who make up about 30% of the U.S. population. Energy prices surged amid the Middle East conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with gasoline up 34.2% and fuel oil up 74.2% year over year. The COLA is based on the third-quarter CPI-W average, which was 3.62% higher than in 2025, and will take effect in January. The adjustment likely won’t fully offset current inflation pressures.
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Original headline: September Inflation Came In at 3 . 9 %, Helping to Set Social Security 2027 Cost - of - Living Adjustment ( COLA )
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| Change that session | -0.20% |
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