WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 -- The Social Security raise that arrives in January, the largest in four years, is built on the same inflation that is squeezing the people who will receive it, and much of that inflation is gasoline. More than 75 million Americans will get a 3.6 percent cost-of-living increase, the Social Security Administration announced on Wednesday, lifting the average payment by roughly $75 to about $2,170 a month.

The adjustment is set by inflation from July through September, and the September CPI inflation report EH covered earlier today showed consumer prices up 3.7 percent over twelve months, with gasoline and diesel doing much of the work. A 3.6 percent raise against 3.7 percent inflation roughly keeps pace; it does not ca...