EXPLAINER: Why the Social Security COLA is jumping next year

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rising inflation has triggered a jump in Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2022. The Social Security Administration revealed the new 5.9% COLA on Wednesday. Compare it with the last 10 years, when the cost-of-living adjustment averaged about 1.7% annually as inflation remained low. But the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has seen rising prices for a wide range of goods and services, and that’s going to translate to bigger checks for retirees. The COLA for 2022 is the largest since a 7.4% increase for 1983, nearly 40 years ago.