Since 1975, disability recipients have received automatic increases each year, tied to consumer prices. In 2014, that increase is expected to be approximately 1.5 percent, which would be among the smallest since automatic increases were adopted.
The exact size of the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, won’t be known until the Labor Department releases the inflation report for September. That was supposed to happen Wednesday, but the report was delayed indefinitely because of the partial government shutdown.
The COLA is usually announced in October to give Social Security and other benefit programs time to adjust January payments.