increase. the government announced monthly payments so this increases the amount to $21.03 a month. benefits for americans on the program will increase by about we saw bigger hike at start of 1.7 percent, retired workers receive an average of $1,200 a this year at 3.6 percent but there were no hikes during the month in social security previous two years. gerri willis is live in our new york studio. that would pay for a third of a gallon of gasoline. gerri: you got that right. this is the smallest increase since they have been put in place in 1975 tied to the consume price index which measures inflation. we got one of those reports out today and prices are up .1 percent month-to-month and 2 percent year-over-year and the folks think that is fine. that is well in their margin for error. shepard: if you are on a fixed income and you rely on this money and prices are going up like they are, how happy are you? gear the government says prices are not going up, medical prices