The Social Security Administration this week announced a 2.5-percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for this year, a more modest increase in the national retirement and benefits plan that reflects easing inflation in the economy.

Last year, the increase was 3.2 percent. In 2022, the increase was 8.7 percent and in 2021 the increase was 5.9 percent. Those numbers are calculated with a formula based on the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

The increases generally track the level of inflation in a given year. Right now, inflation in the September CPI-W is at a 2.25-percent annual increase. Last September, it was at a 3.56-percent annual increase,........

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