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What is a COLA?
Legislation enacted in 1973 provides for cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs. With
COLAs, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits keep pace with
inflation. No COLA
There will be no increase in Social Security benefits payable in January 2010, nor will there be an increase in SSI payments.
How is a COLA calculated?
The Social Security Act specifies a formula for determining each COLA. In general,
a COLA is equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for
Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of one year to
the third quarter of the next. If there is no increase, there is
no COLA.
COLA Computation
For the December 2009 COLA, we measure the increase (if any) in the average CPI-W
from the third calendar quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009.
These averages are 215.495 and 211.001 for the third
calendar quarters of 2008 and 2009, respectively, and are derived
from monthly CPI-Ws developed by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
| Month |
CPI-W for— |
| 2008 |
2009 |
| July |
216.304 |
210.526 |
| August |
215.247 |
211.156 |
| September |
214.935 |
211.322 |
| Total |
646.486 |
633.004 |
Average (rounded
to the nearest 0.001) |
215.495 |
211.001 |
Because there is no increase in the CPI-W from the third quarter of
2008 through the third quarter of 2009, there is no COLA.
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