Benefits that Social Security holds back from a working retiree are not gone for good. When that person reaches full retirement age, the agency recalculates the monthly benefit to credit the months that were reduced or withheld. Social Security describes the process on its page on working while receiving benefits, and it matters to anyone…

The Office of Personnel Management has finalized a rule that ends the 52-week time-in-grade wait for promotions to competitive-service General Schedule jobs at GS-6 and above. The rule takes effect January 19, 2027. Employees who have not spent a full year in their current grade will be eligible to be considered for a higher grade…

Prices rose faster than paychecks in September, and the average worker’s buying power slipped. Real average weekly earnings, which adjust weekly pay for inflation, fell 0.5 percent from August to September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The figures are in the agency’s Real Earnings release for September 2026, published Oct. 14. They cover all…

Social Security stops holding back benefits because of work income once a beneficiary reaches full retirement age. From that month on, a person can earn any amount from a job and still receive the full monthly check. The change applies to people who started benefits early and kept working. The Social Security Administration says on…

Seattle’s minimum wage goes up 84 cents to $22.14 an hour on January 1, 2027. The city’s current 2026 rate is $21.30, and the new figure applies to anyone working for an employer inside Seattle city limits. Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards made the announcement on September 28, 2026. Its notice says that starting January…

Michigan’s maximum weekly unemployment check climbs to $614 on Jan. 1, 2027. The higher ceiling applies to claims filed on or after that date, replacing the $530 maximum that governs claims filed during 2026. The schedule is set in state law and laid out in a July 2025 release from Michigan’s Department of Labor and…

A month of part-time work will count as a trial work month in 2027 once pay tops $1,270, Social Security says. The amount rises from $1,210 this year, and the new figure takes effect in January. It matters to anyone collecting disability benefits who is working, or thinking about starting. The Social Security Administration’s trial…

People who get Social Security Disability Insurance and have already finished their trial work period face a plain earnings line in 2027. In any month their earnings run over $1,770, benefits stop for that month, once a three-month grace period is used up. The line applies to people who are not statutorily blind. The $1,770…

The amount a person on Social Security disability can earn in a month before the Social Security Administration (SSA) treats the work as “substantial” goes up in 2027. For people who are not blind, the 2027 limit is $1,770 a month, up from $1,690 this year. For people who are statutorily blind, it is $2,950…

Federal civilian employees start 2027 on the same pay tables they have now unless Congress writes a different figure, while the same letter directs a 3.8 percent increase for law enforcement. President Trump’s alternative pay plan, a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson dated August 26, 2026, says “base pay and locality pay for civilian…