statistics on inflation from SeptemberThe Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers is used by the Social Security Administration
to determine the COLA for the following year (CPI-W). The third quarter of the year, which encompasses the months of July, August, and September,
is the time period that the SSA focuses on when analyzing CPI-W statistics. The CPI-W data for these three months is averaged by the SSA,
who then compares it to the CPI-W average for the third quarter of the previous year. The COLA rise for the next year is the difference in percentage.
The COLA rise for 2022 was estimated at 5.9%, which is the highest increase in recent years. The COLA hike is anticipated to be considerably higher in 2023.
The CPI-W statistics for July and August are already available, and the two months' combined CPI-W average was 291.924. The CPI-W average for 2021 was 268.088.