SS COLA jumps 4.1% for 2006
More than 48 million Americans will get a 4.1 percent increase intheir monthly Social
Security checks next year, the largest increase inmore than a decade. For the average retiree, it will mean an increaseof $39 a month.
The cost of living adjustment, or COLA, wasannounced Friday by the Social Security Administration. It will be thebiggest increase since a 5.4 percent gain in 1991. The increase lastJanuary was 2.7 percent.
The inflation adjustment is based onthe amount prices – as measured by the Consumer Price Index – haverisen in the July-September quarter compared with the same period ayear ago. Rising energy costs have driven inflation sharply higher thisyear, including a record monthly surge in energy costs in Septemberrelated to the Gulf Coast hurricanes.