Shutdown delays inflation data and COLA, SSA payments on schedule

The federal government shutdown, now in its second week since beginning Oct. 1, has delayed the release of key economic data and pushed back the official Social Security cost of living adjustment announcement, while beneficiaries continue to receive checks on schedule, officials said. The Bureau of Labor Statistics postponed its September inflation report to Oct. 24, a move that forces the Social Security Administration to wait for those figures before finalizing the 2026 COLA.

The shutdown has halted routine operations across agencies and left hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay. Officials estimate roughly 750,000 federal workers have been affected, producing backlogs in services normally handled daily. The Labor Department has recalled some staff to assemble already collected data, but officials warned that continued closure could interrupt the collection of raw data used for monthly reports on jobs, inflation and other economic trends.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments will continue as scheduled because they are funded through dedicated trust funds and are classified as mandatory spending, the Social Security...