Social Security benefits to get 8.7 percent boost

Social Security recipients will get an average of $140 more each month starting in January, the program's highest bump in 40 years, officials said Thursday. The program serves about 70 million people and its annual Cost of Living Adjustment helps it keep up with inflation. The announcement comes just weeks before the midterm elections where cost-of-living is a top issue for voters. Last month, Medicare announced Part B premiums will drop by three percent in 2023, the first time in more than a decade that the premiums have not risen. 

What’s inflation doing? The Labor Department’s inflation report showed that overall consumer prices rose by 8.2 percent year over year. Consumer prices for energy and food specifically jumped even higher than that, with total food prices increasing 11.2 percent over the last 12 months and energy prices still up nearly 20 percent over the year despite several months of improvement. The report said inflation rose slightly faster from August to September than from July to August. Still-rising inflation sets up the Federal Reserve for another interest rate hike—probably by another three-quarters of a point. 

Dig deeper: Listen to Addie Offereins’ report on The World and Everything in It podcast about how rising prices affect food pantries.