Social Security Administration says cost-of-living adjustment will rise 3.6% in 2027
(Getty Images stock photo/Douglas Sacha)
Social Security benefits will increase 3.6% beginning in January for more than 70 million recipients, the Social Security Administration (SSA) said on Wednesday.
The cost-of-living adjustment for 2027, known as COLA, came in markedly higher than the prior year’s hike of 2.8%.
The annual uptick in Social Security benefits aims to keep payments on pace with inflation, which surged in the spring after the outbreak of the Iran war.
The rise in Social Security payments for 2027 amounts to an average increase of about $75 a month for each recipient, the SSA said.
The announcement on Wednesday came after inflation data for September showed price hikes had climbed to a four-month high due in large part to a surge in gasoline costs. The fresh reading marked the final piece of data necessary for SSA to calculate COLA for 2027.
“Social Security will implement this cost-of-living adjustment for 76 million Americans, giving them greater financial stability,” Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in a statement.
The agency will also hike the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax, elevating the taxable income limit from $184,500 to $192,300.
Recipients can check their online accounts with Social Security for notifications of their new benefit amount beginning in late November, the agency said. Notices will be sent to recipients by mail starting in early December.
HR recruitment manager holding resume in hands while having an interview in a modern office. (Xavier Lorenzo/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Hiring slowed markedly in June, falling short of economists’ expectations and displaying a wobbly labor market amid elevated inflation set off by the Iran war.
The U.S. added 57,000 jobs in June, according to the federal government’s monthly jobs report, which marked a decline from 172,000 jobs added in May.
The sluggish pace recorded in June departs from strong performance for the labor market so far in 2026. Employers added a robust average of about 114,000 jobs each month from January to May, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data showed.
The unemployment rate fell slightly from 4.3% in May to 4.2% in June, the BLS said. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.
The professional and business services sector led job gains, adding 36,000 positions in June. Significant job gains also came in healthcare, though the pace of job growth slowed in that sector.
Hiring had proven unexpectedly resilient, despite a rise in costs borne by businesses and shoppers.
The Middle East conflict, which began on Feb. 28, prompted the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply. The standoff triggered one of the largest oil shocks ever recorded.
The pace of annual inflation stands at 4.2%, clocking in at more than twice the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.
The combination of elevated inflation and a resilient labor market has raised the chances of an interest rate hike, futures markets show, posing a risk for corporations eager to keep borrowing costs relatively low.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh briefly sent stocks tumbling this month during his first press conference atop the central bank. Warsh voiced a commitment to bringing inflation down to the Fed’s desired level.
“Persistently high prices are a burden for the American people,” Warsh told reporters in Washington, D.C. “This committee will deliver price stability.”
Futures markets peg the odds of an interest rate hike in September at about 64%, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, a measure of investor sentiment.
To be sure, the path forward for interest rates remains highly uncertain. Oil and gasoline prices have eased in recent weeks in response to negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, offering hope of a cooldown of inflation in the absence of rate increases.
On Wednesday, Warsh weighed in on the bullish side of an ongoing debate among policymakers, investors and the general public about the potential impact of AI on the labor market and wider economy.
The technology could create jobs and boost productivity, strengthening the economy of the U.S. and other nations, according to Warsh.
“This is a big paradigm shift both for the conduct of our policy and for our economies,” Warsh said. “I think the jobs will be greater. Prosperity will be stronger.”
A shopper browses near ‘Sale’ signs in the meats section of a grocery store on July 7, 2026 in Pasadena, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Inflation dropped more than expected in June as gas prices eased in response to negotiations between U.S. and Iran over the Middle East conflict.
Prices rose 3.5% in June compared to a year earlier, marking a retreat from a year-over-year inflation rate of 4.2% in the prior month, federal government data released on Tuesday morning showed.
The reading for June marks the lowest inflation since March, though the pace of price increases remains more than a percentage point higher than its pre-war level.
Last month, oil prices fell to their lowest level since before the late February outbreak of the Iran war. That drop came after a preliminary agreement included provisions aimed at resolving a global crude shortage.
A spike in oil prices over recent days amid a resumption of fighting, however, threatens to push gas prices higher, erasing some of the relief delivered last month.
Brent crude futures, the benchmark index for worldwide trading, rose to $86.90 a barrel on Tuesday. That figure stood roughly even with its level a month earlier, though it remained more than 20% higher than its pre-war level.
The inflation report on Tuesday offered some additional bright spots outside of energy prices.
Core inflation — a measure of price increases that strips out volatile food and energy prices — clocked at 2.6% over the year ending in June. That reading indicated a slight decline from the previous month, suggesting the cooldown had extended beyond gasoline.
(NEW YORK) — Converse has discontinued an advertisement following public backlash last week over what critics said appeared to be Ku Klux Klan symbolism and lynching in the shoe and apparel company’s ad campaign.
One of the images in the ad showed the bottom half of a person wearing a white, calf-length skirt-like garment that some critics said resembled a KKK robe, while holding a pair of black sneakers in one hand with their arm fully extended down by their side.
Critics said lighting in the photograph makes the shoes look as if they are dangling in the air next to the person in the white garment, resembling someone being hanged.
Shadows in the photograph also create a triangle-shaped light on the white robe that critics said further resembled the top peak of a Klan hood.
“We’re sorry. We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong,” Converse, who is owned by Nike Inc., said in a statement to ABC News Monday. “We removed it from our channels and are working to remove it everywhere it appeared. This should not have happened and we will do better.”
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who represented the family of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was chased and fatally shot by three white men while jogging in Georgia in February 2020, weighed in on the controversial promotional campaign.
“We keep having this conversation because corporations keep failing the same test,” Merritt said in a social media post. “Do better means catching this before it airs — not after we’re offended.”
Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., said in a statement that the advertisement was neither creative nor artistic.
“Black pain is not a marketing prop,” Carter said. “Lynching is not a creative concept. The Ku Klux Klan is not an aesthetic.”
The photos were part of a campaign to promote the Chuck 70 X sneaker. The advertisement was a collaboration with K-pop singer Karina, who is with the group aespa.
ABC News has reached out to representatives of Karina for a comment.
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this story.
