KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Bureau of Labor Statistics employees are returning to work so it can release its September inflation report on Oct. 24.
- This will allow the Social Security Administration to calculate the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment before the Nov. 1 deadline.
- Although the government remains shut down, Social Security beneficiaries will soon know how much their checks will increase next year.
Security beneficiaries will get an idea about what next year’s benefit checks will look like after all.
The federal government said it is bringing back some furloughed Bureau of Labor Statistics employees to release the September Consumer Price Index on Oct. 24. The Social Security Administration uses this key inflation data to calculate the annual cost-of-living adjustment to benefits.
What This Means for Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries, especially the nearly 22 million seniors whose sole source of income is Social Security benefits and who rely on the COLA announcements to budget for the next year, will receive some clarity soon, even though the shutdown continues.
The Social Security 2026 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) announcement typically comes in mid-October and is based on the BLS inflation reports from the third quarter. When the government shut down at the beginning of this month over debates about health care cuts, the BLS said it would “completely cease operations,” which includes releasing its reports.
The Social Security Administration, which continues to have the majority of its employees working so it can administer checks during the shutdown, has not said when it will release the 2026 COLA. However, the SSA is required to release the adjustment by Nov. 1.
Early estimates suggest that the 2026 COLA will be 2.7%, up from 2025’s 2.5% increase.
