Relief checks 2023 summary news: 3 April
US Inflation Relief: Latest Updates
Headlines: Monday 3 April, 2023
- More than three million workers have been laid off in the United States this year
- Social Security and Medicare Trustees warn of respective funds depleted by 2033 and 2031
- Various states will continue to issueinflation relief checks and generous tax refunds in April
- Social Security April payment schedule: when can you expect your payment?
- No Supplemental Security Income checks will be sent in April;instead, the April payment was made on 31 March
Read more from AS USA:
Month after month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issues millions of payments to all beneficiaries of the various programs they oversee, the vast majority of which are retirees.
The exact amount of the check each beneficiary receives depends on a number of factors, including the number of years worked, the beneficiary’s age at retirement, and, of course, the income that the person in question received throughout their working life. This year, the SSA has applied an 8.7 percent Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to the benefit amounts, which has helped to boost the value of payments across the board. The COLA is calculated each year to help payments maintain their purchasing power.
Once the COLA was applied, the average retiree payments increased to about $1,830 a month, according to the SSA. However, some receive more than $4,000, which is twice the average. Let’s see who qualifies...
Nevada, Florida, and Texas added the greatest number of jobs in 2022
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported on two types of job gains. The first is as a percent increase compared to the previous year, and the second is just on the whole number created over the year. As a percentage, Nevada (+5.1 percent), Florida and Texas (+4.6 percent each) led the country, while the greatest number of new jobs were created in Texas (+611,400), California (+486,500), and Florida (+427,400). The largest percentage increase occurred in Nevada (+5.1 percent), followed by Florida and Texas (+4.6 percent each).
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Layoffs at major corporations like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta have made headlines as these businesses adjust their business practices to current economic conditions. However, workers far beyond those employed in the tech sector have been impacted by job losses.
So far this year, around 3.3 million workers have been laid off: nearly 1.8 million in January and an additional 1.5 million in February. Compared to this time last year, layoffs and discharges (i.e., another involuntary separation category) are up thirteen percent. This news comes as the number of workers leaving their jobs voluntarily (i.e., quitting) has fallen by nine percent compared to the levels recorded in the first two months of 2022. These preliminary data points indicate that the labor market is tightening since the rate at which workers are choosing to leave their posts is declining, just as the pace of layoffs ticked up.
Read our full coverage for details on which sectors have seen the highest increases in layoffs.
Aside from personal reasons, which may motivate some seniors to retire closer to family or in the community where they have lived in worked for decades, the living standard available to older people should be evaluated when choosing where to settle. Wallet Hub, the financial news site, ranked states across three categories: Affordability, Quality of Life, and Health Care.
The overall highest-scoring states were Virginia, Florida, and Colorado. At the other end of the spectrum, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Mississippi scored the lowest.
Idaho led the United States in terms of GDP growth in 2022
The results are in, and it looks like the state of Idaho led the country in terms of GDP growth in 2022, increasing by 4.9 percent. This is more than double the growth seen nationally, which clocked in at 2.1 percent.
There were only six states that saw their economies shrink, with the largest loss seen in Alaska, where GDP fell by 2.4 percent.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the industries that led the growth were real estate and the leading industry, which also helps to explain why housing costs have surged over the last year. At the state level, in six states, these two sectors were the "leading contributor" to GDP.
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The winter of 2022-23 has seen a number of natural disasters beset parts of the nation from coast to coast. The severe weather events have brought torrential rains and flooding to California, snowstorms to New York and tornadoes in the Deep South prompting the IRS to provide filing extensions to taxpayers in areas with disaster declarations by FEMA.
Cities where a $100K salary goes further
Crossing the six-figure salary mark is seen as an important milestone for American workers. However, depending on where you live, the rising cost of living mean that $100,000 doesn’t go as far as it used to. In fact, just over half of people who make more than that say they lived paycheck to paycheck at the end of last year, almost a 10% jump for the year before according to a recent survey.
Here's a look a some of the places where you can live more comfortably with your hard earned money.
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The IRS offers extra credit to taxpayers who can show that they use at least half of their wealth on dependents, whether they are US residents or not.
Through the Credit for Other Dependents, the IRS offers $500 dollars to all those taxpayers who demonstrate a minimum contribution of 50% in financial support or maintenance to family members.
This means that if you live in the United States and every month you send money to support family members in Mexico or Canada, you may be eligible for a $500 refund from the IRS.
Daniela Barrera tells us more about how to claim this credit.
Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) for February came in lower than expected on Friday. The Commerce Department reported that core inflation, excluding food and energy, increased 0.3% for the month. It was 4.6% year-on-year.
While inflation at is still more than double policymakers’ target, the latest data is good news for those hoping that the Federal Reserve will end interest rate hikes sooner rather than later. The PCE gives a fuller picture of costs for consumers, especially the core rate, making it the Fed's favored inflation gauge.
Chief economist at the Institute of International Finance Robin Brooks is calling on the Fed to “ditch data dependence with respect to inflation” and focus on avoiding a recession. The IIF argues that lags from supply disruptions due to covid could explain 70% of high core PCE inflation at the end of 2022 will see inflation fading going forward. And now with the collapse of SVB, it gives all the more reason to the Federal Reserve to stop hiking interest rates.
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Tax filers will be eager to know if and when they will be receiving a tax refund. Filing a tax return as soon as possible is the best way to make sure your return is processed promptly; the IRS will be sifting through tens of millions of tax returns on a first-come-first-served basis.
Typically the IRS is able to distribute a tax refund within 21 days so long as the return is filed electronically. Those who file with paper may have to wait up to six months to receive their refund.
The latest data from the IRS shows that of the over 80 million 2022 tax returns received, nearly all have been processed and more than 59 million refunds have already been issued.
Those that want to check the status of their tax return can use the IRS online tool called “Where’s My Refund” which is accessible 24 hours a day.
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The Social Security Administration sends out monthly payments to nearly 71 million beneficiaries each month, but in April one group will not receive a check.
Month after month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends out monthly checks to retired workers, to recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), as well as other disability and survivor benefits.
Thanks to the 8.7 percent increase in the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), average retiree payments increased to about $1,830 in February 2022. On the other hand, median payments for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients are approximately $675. However, in April, no SSI recipient will a check... but it may not be as bad of news as it sounds.... find out more.
Social Security and Medicare Trustees’ message to Congress
The Trustees recommend that lawmakers address the projected trust fund shortfalls in a timely way in order to phase in necessary changes gradually and give workers and beneficiaries time to adjust to them.
Implementing changes sooner rather than later would allow more generations to share in the needed revenue increases or reductions in scheduled benefits.
The Social Security Board of Trustees released the annual report on the financial status of the Trust Funds, revealing when they will be depleted.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is preparing to send out another round of monthly checks for Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and other benefit programs distributed by the agency.
Thanks to the 8.7 percent increase in the Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) applied to benefits in 2023, the size of the average Social Security payment reached 1,830 in February 2023. This is up from an average payment size of $1,677 seen by beneficiaries in November 2022 before the 2023 COLA took effect.
Read our full coverage for the dates these checks can be expected.
Last year, prices began to rise rapidly, and to support residents in combat inflation, various states began sending out relief checks. Although inflationary pressure in the market has weakened in recent months, the delivery of support will continue in April.
Find out where checks are being sent in our full coverage.
There are 47 states and the District of Columbia that have at least one program to forgive student loan debt, five of them will do so for moving there.
During the pandemic many workers were forced to work from home. A situation that many found suited them prompting a reconsideration of their abodes and a mass migration to upsize. Normally purchasing a condo is cheaper than a single-family house, which is the case in the majority of cities and in some the difference is more than double.
But a new study has foundcities where the opposite is true.
Knowing your net worth is important to understanding your financial health and progressing toward your goals for the future. Learn how you can calculate it.
OPEC cuts production to support market stability, oil prices expected to rise
A day before the OPEC ministerial monitoring meeting, the organization of leading oil-producing countries unexpectedly announced that they would cut production by 1.15 million barrel per day. Dan Pickering of Pickering Energy Partners told Reuters that he believes the price per barrel could rise by as much as $10 while Gas Buddy’s Patrick De Haan is forecasting perhaps as little as $3 pre barrel.
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Welcome to AS USA's live blog on inflation relief and financial news
Throughout the day we'll bring you the latest news on measures to provide inflation relief, Social Security, 2023 tax season, interest rates, the housing market and more.
As the national tax filing date approaches, we will be providing you with information from the IRS on how to preventhiccups during processing and the distribution of your refund.
This week the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the March Unemployment Report. This information will provide further insights into how rate hikes from the Federal Reserve are impacting the labor market.