Social Security benefits to go up by 1.7 percent

WASHINGTON — Millions of older Americans who rely on federal benefits will get a 1.7 percent increase in their monthly payments next year, the government announced Wednesday.

It's the third year in a row the increase will be less than 2 percent.

The annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, affects payments to more than 70 million Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees. That's more than a fifth of the country.

The increase amounts to about $20 a month for the typical Social Security recipient.

"The COLA helps beneficiaries of all ages maintain their standard of living, keeping many from falling into poverty by providing partial protection against inflation," said Jo Ann Jenkins, who heads AARP.

The government announced the benefit increase Wednesday, when it released the latest measure of consumer prices. By law, the increase is based on inflation, which is well below historical averages so far this year.

For example, gasoline prices have dropped over the past year while the cost of clothing is up by less than 1 percent, according to the September inflation report released Wednesday.

The cost of meat, fish and eggs is up by nearly 10 percent, but the overall cost of food is up just 3.1 percent.

Medical costs, which disproportionately affect older Americans, are up 1.9 percent over the past year.

Congress enacted automatic increases for Social Security beneficiaries in 1975, when inflation was high and there was a lot of pressure to regularly raise benefits.

For the first 35 years, the COLA was less than 2 percent only three times. Next year, the COLA will be less than 2 percent for the fifth time in six years. This year's increase was 1.5 percent, the year before it was 1.7 percent.

Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent payroll tax on the first $117,000 of a worker's wages — half is paid by the worker and half is paid by the employer. Next year, the wage cap will increase to $118,500, the Social Security Administration said.

About 59 million retirees, disabled workers, spouses and children get Social Security benefits. The average monthly payment is $1,192.

The COLA also affects benefits for about 4 million disabled veterans, 2.5 million federal retirees and their survivors, and more than 8 million people who get Supplemental Security Income, the disability program for the poor.

By law, the cost-of-living adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, a broad measure of consumer prices generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It measures price changes for food, housing, clothing, transportation, energy, medical care, recreation and education.

The COLA is calculated by comparing consumer prices in July, August and September each year with prices in the same three months from the previous year. If prices go up over the course of the year, benefits go up, starting with payments delivered in January.

"In the last several years we have had extremely low inflation," said economist Polina Vlasenko, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. "Basically because inflation is low, the cost-of-living adjustment is going to be low, too. It's supposed to just compensate you for inflation."

Advocates for seniors say the government's measure of inflation doesn't accurately reflect price increases faced by older Americans because they tend to spend more of their income on health care. The rise in medical costs has slowed in recent years, but people hit with serious illnesses can still see their individual costs soar.

People on Medicare, the government health insurance program for older Americans, usually have their Part B premiums deducted from Social Security payments. The premiums, which cover outpatient care, are scheduled to stay the same next year — $104.90 a month.

However, federal retirees face a 3.8 percent increase in their health insurance premiums next year, said Joseph A. Beaudoin, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.

"News of the cost-of-living adjustment for the coming year always is eagerly awaited by the countless Americans who rely on the increase to keep up with the rising price of food, housing, transportation and medical care," Beaudoin said in a statement. "However, despite the partial relief this COLA will provide, the announcement is a reminder that our method for calculating the increasing cost of goods and services is out of sync with the reality faced by millions of federal (retirees), Social Security recipients and military retirees."

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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter at http://twitter.com/stephenatap

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Associated Press Writer Martin Crutsinger contributed to this story.

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Total acts swiftly to replace CEO killed in crash

PARIS — French oil giant Total SA has named Patrick Pouyanne as chief executive to replace Christophe de Margerie, who was killed earlier this week in a plane crash in Moscow.

Barely 36 hours after de Margerie's death, Total's board chose Pouyanne, 51, at a board meeting Wednesday. The swift appointment indicates the board's desire to limit the uncertainty on one of France's biggest companies. In its statement, Total's board hailed De Margerie's "exceptional human and professional qualities."

Pouyanne has led Total's refining and chemicals division since 2012. He has been with Total since 1997, starting off as head of exploration and production in Angola.

The quick succession recalled similarly prompt executive replacements following tragic accidents at Fortune 500 companies McDonalds Corp. in 2004 and Micron Technology Inc. in 2012.

Total said Thierry Desmarest, who was chief executive from 1995 to 2007 and honorary president of the board of directors since 2010, would become chairman of the company until the end of 2015. Pouyanne will combine the roles of CEO and board president after that.

Pouyanne is a graduate of two of France's top engineering schools, Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines. He's been a member of Total's 28-member management committee since May, 2006, and joined the seven-member executive committee in 2012.

De Margie was killed when his Dassault Falcon 50 business jet clipped a snowplow on takeoff late Monday at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow. The accident also killed three French crew members on board. Investigators are questioning the snowplow's driver, who they say was drunk at the time, a charge his lawyer has denied. They have also said they are looking into the role of air traffic controllers and the airport's managers.

Total is France's second-largest listed company by market value and employs around 100,000 people around the world, making it one of France's largest private sector employers.

Total's share price was down 0.3 percent in lunchtime trading in Paris.

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Feds loosen eligibility for parent loan program

WASHINGTON — The Education Department has loosened credit requirements for a federal student loan program used by parents and graduate students.

A new regulation announced Wednesday updates the definition of adverse credit history as it pertains to the federal PLUS loan program. Under the rule, a potential borrower with overdue debt less than $2,085 is considered not to have adverse credit history. Others may still be able to participate if they pass additional steps, but must participate in loan counseling.

In 2011, the department rolled out more restrictive requirements. Afterward, there was an outcry from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which serve a low-income population and have seen thousands of students lose eligibility.

The Education Department estimates about 370,000 more loan applicants will pass the credit history check under the regulations. As the regulations currently stand, some of these same borrowers would have to go through several extra steps to qualify.

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Snowplow driver says he didn't see Total CEO's jet

MOSCOW — The driver of the snowplow that apparently caused the plane carrying the Total CEO to crash at a Moscow airport says he neither saw nor heard the private jet as it sped toward him down the runway in the dark.

The driver is the only person to have been detained in the deaths of Total SA Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie and three French crew members, who were killed when the Dassault Falcon 50 clipped the snowplow on takeoff late Monday and crashed, bursting into flames.

But Russian investigators said Wednesday they now believe that much of the blame lies with the managers of Vnukovo airport, which is used by Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, and visiting official delegations.

Investigators accused the snowplow driver, Vladimir Martynenko, of drinking on the job. His lawyer has denied this.

In footage of his questioning shown Wednesday on Channel One state television, Martynenko, 60, says he didn't notice that he had strayed onto the runway and didn't hear the plane over the noise of the snowplow or see any lights.

"The plane was taking off, and I practically didn't see it or hear it because the equipment was operating," Martynenko, still wearing the blue coveralls that appear to be his work uniform, tells investigators. "There were not even any headlights, or at least I didn't see them. And then there was the hit."

His lawyer, Alexander Karabanov, said his client does not drink and any smell of alcohol could have come from drops that he takes for a heart condition. Martynenko, who has worked at Vnukovo for about 10 years, was not injured in the accident.

Speaking on Ekho Moskvy radio, the lawyer provided a possible explanation for how the snowplow ended up on the runway. He said Martynenko's snowplow was one of several operating together at the time, but he heard a scraping noise, stopped his vehicle and got out to make sure nothing was wrong. When he started up again, he could no longer see the other vehicles because of poor visibility, the lawyer said.

Investigators on Tuesday were quick to pin the blame on Martynenko, while noting that they also were looking into the role of the air traffic controllers. On Wednesday, they took aim at the airport managers.

Investigators were working to get some airport employees suspended to prevent them from interfering in the criminal case and do not exclude further arrests, said Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigative Committee, Russia's main investigative agency.

"It is already clear that the reason for what happened was not at all a horrible, tragic concurrence of circumstances, as representatives of the airport try to portray it, but the criminal connivance of officials who were unable to ensure the coordinated work of airport employees," Markin said in a statement.

The last fatal crash at Vnukovo was in December 2012, when a Russian-made Tupolev careered off the runway, rolled across a snowy field and slammed into the slope of a highway, killing five of its crew of eight who were on board.

Industry experts have blamed some of the recent plane crashes in Russia on a cost-cutting mentality. Insufficient pilot training and lax government controls over the industry also have been named among factors affecting flight safety.

A 2011 crash of a Russian-made Yakovlev in Yaroslavl that killed 44 people, most of them members of a professional hockey team, was blamed on pilot error.

In April 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski was among 96 people killed when a Tupolev flown by the Polish Air Force crashed near Smolensk in heavy fog.

Meanwhile, Total's board held an emergency meeting on Wednesday at which they named Patrick Pouyanne as the new CEO.

Prior to his nomination, Pouyanne, 51, had led Total's refining and chemicals division since 2012. He has been with Total since 1997, starting off as head of exploration and production in Angola.

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3rd spacewalk in 3 weeks at space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Spacewalking astronauts heaved an old seismic experiment overboard at the International Space Station on Wednesday.

It was the third spacewalk in as many weeks outside the orbiting lab. This time, it was on the Russian side of the house.

Russian spaceman Alexander Samokutyaev alerted flight controllers outside Moscow as he released his grip on the large rectangular panel holding the experiment. "Off it goes," he said.

"Three cheers," someone noted in Russian. "This is an event of some note."

The panel, shining yellow in the station spotlights, slowly spun in circles as it tumbled away into the blackness. The experiment was launched in 2011 to monitor seismic activity on Earth and had completed its job.

NASA's Mission Control in Houston said analyses were conducted to ensure the object would not come back and smash into the space station.

Samokutyaev and Maxim Suraev, doubling as trash men, had two more items to junk: a pair of Russian antennas no longer needed 260 miles up.

The Russian Space Agency routinely gets rid of old equipment by setting it loose in orbit. The objects eventually lose altitude and burn up in the atmosphere.

During the planned six-hour excursion, the spacewalkers also planned to inspect the outside of the Russian segment, collecting samples from windows and elsewhere to check for engine exhaust and other materials.

During each of the previous two weeks, American spacewalkers took care of some outside maintenance.

Altogether, six people live on the orbiting lab: three Russians, two Americans and one German.

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Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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US journalist recovers; Ebola 'czar' gets to work

WASHINGTON — A TV news cameraman treated for Ebola was ready to go home Wednesday, the fifth patient transported from West Africa to recover at a U.S. hospital, as President Barack Obama brought together top aides and his new Ebola "czar" to coordinate a national response to the deadly disease.

Two nurses remain hospitalized after catching the virus from a Liberian man who came down with Ebola symptoms after arriving in the U.S. and died at a Dallas hospital. Because of their cases, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued more stringent safety guidelines this week and is working with states to spread them to health care workers across the country.

"Recovering from Ebola is a truly humbling feeling," American video journalist Ashoka Mukpo said in a statement Tuesday from the Nebraska Medical Center. "Too many are not as fortunate and lucky as I've been. I'm very happy to be alive."

The virus has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa, nearly all in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Mukpo, of Providence, Rhode Island, got it while working in Liberia as a freelance cameraman for NBC and other media outlets. He has been at the Nebraska hospital since Oct. 6, the second Ebola patient treated there.

The hospital said that tests show Mukpo is now free of the virus and he would be allowed to leave its biocontainment unit Wednesday.

Debra Berry, the mother of Dallas nurse Amber Vinson, said Tuesday her daughter is "doing OK, just trying to get stronger" while being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Fellow Dallas nurse Nina Pham's condition has been upgraded from fair to good at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington.

At the White House, Obama was meeting with his new Ebola coordinator Ron Klain and top aides Wednesday afternoon.

Under heavy criticism for the government's handling of the first Ebola case diagnosed within the U.S., Obama reached for help last week from Ron Klain, a veteran political operator and former chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden. Klain will coordinate the array of federal agencies dealing with Ebola in the U.S. and helping to tackle the crisis in West Africa.

The Obama administration has resisted pressure to ban travel from the Ebola-stricken countries but was tightening rules in an effort to ensure that all arrivals from the three nations are screened for the disease.

Under restrictions taking effect Wednesday, air travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea must enter the United States through one of five airports doing special screenings and fever checks. A handful of people had been arriving at other airports and missing the checks.

A total of 562 air travelers have been checked in the screenings that started Oct. 11 at New York's Kennedy airport and expanded to four others last week, Homeland Security officials said. Four were taken from Washington's Dulles airport to a local hospital. None had Ebola.

The other airports are Newark's Liberty, Chicago's O'Hare and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson.

The tightened rules for West African travelers come as Rwanda — an Ebola-free country in East Africa — said it would begin checking visiting Americans for the disease because of the three cases that occurred in the U.S.

Many U.S. lawmakers and members of the public have been pushing for a ban on travel into the United States from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Obama and federal health authorities say that could make the situation worse, by making it harder for foreign doctors and aid workers to get help to nations that desperately need it and can't stop the outbreak on their own.

There are no direct flights from the three countries into the U.S. The government has said as many as 150 fliers per day arriving by various multi-leg routes was typical, but that number has dropped since the Ebola outbreak began in March.

When the Ebola screenings began at five airports, U.S. officials said about 6 percent of arrivals from the affected nations were coming through other airports that didn't have the fever checks.

By changing that, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said, "We currently have in place measures to identify and screen anyone at all land, sea and air ports of entry into the United States who we have reason to believe has been present in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea in the preceding 21 days."

Homeland Security officials at the airports use no-touch thermometers to check for fever, which can be a symptom of Ebola infection. People who have been infected with the virus may not develop a fever and illness for up to 21 days, however. The Liberian patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, wasn't showing symptoms when he entered the United States, officials said.

In addition to Mukpo, three American doctors and an aide worker, all infected in Liberia or Sierra Leone, have been treated at the Nebraska Medical Center or Emory University Hospital in Atlanta and recovered.

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Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe in New York and Emily Schmall in Dallas contributed to this report.

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Stocks edge higher on earnings gains, Europe hopes

NEW YORK — Good news on corporate earnings nudged U.S. stocks higher Wednesday morning, a day after the Standard and Poor's 500 index had its best day of the year. Investors were also encouraged by a government report showing U.S. inflation is low and by hopes for new stimulus measures from the European Central Bank.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average barely moved, up just seven points to 16,662 as of 11:07 a.m. Eastern time. The S&P 500 climbed three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,944 and the Nasdaq composite climbed seven points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,426.

YAHOO SURGE: Yahoo jumped $2.41, or 6 percent, to $42.59 after reporting encouraging third-quarter results late Tuesday. Yahoo got a windfall from the recent IPO of Alibaba, the giant Chinese online retailer that Yahoo owns a stake in. Revenue rose slightly from the previous year, a welcome change for a company that has been posting quarterly declines for most of the past five years.

BROADCOM JUMPS: The semiconductor company jumped 7 percent, the largest gain in the S&P 500, after reporting earnings late Tuesday that topped Wall Street estimates. The stock rose $2.62 to $39.95.

DOW RISE: Dow Chemical rose 69 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $48.90 after the specialty chemical maker reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates.

LOW INFLATION: The government reported that consumer prices rose 1.7 percent in the year to September, below the 2 percent target set by the Federal Reserve. Low inflation has allowed the central bank to keep rates at record lows to help the economy by encouraging lending and hiring.

EUROPE STIMULUS: As the region teeters on the brink of recession again, speculation is growing that the European Central Bank will step up its purchases of bonds, which puts downward pressure on interest rates. Analysts say the ECB is believed to be buying Italian bonds and might be planning to expand that program to other nations.

"Considering the weakness in Europe, the prospect of an increase (in bond purchases) is real," said IG strategist Evan Lucas.

EUROPEAN STOCKS: Germany's DAX rose 0.5 percent and France's CAC 40 gained 0.5 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent.

BIG DAY IN ASIA: Asian stock indexes rose sharply. Japan's Nikkei 225 soared 2.6 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.4 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.1 percent.

ENERGY AND BONDS: Oil prices held steady after weeks of declines. The benchmark U.S. crude contract lost 40 cents to $82.09 a barrel in New York. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.23 percent from 2.22 percent.

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FedEx predicts increase in holiday deliveries

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — FedEx expects another record for holiday-season deliveries.

The company forecast Wednesday that deliveries between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve will rise 8.8 percent over last year, to 290 million shipments. That's a more subdued forecast than a year ago, when FedEx predicted 13 percent growth for the season.

Volume is expected to surge on each of the first three Mondays in December.

FedEx Corp. said the peak day is likely to be Dec. 15, when it expects to handle 22.6 million shipments around the world.

FedEx and rival United Parcel Service Inc. struggled last year with severe winter weather in early December, a shorter holiday season, and a surge in late orders that was partly due to retailers promising free delivery even for shipments close to Christmas Day.

FedEx plans to add 50,000 seasonal workers to help carry the load this year. UPS has said it will add up to 95,000 people, and Amazon said it will hire 80,000, a 14 percent jump over last year.

The delivery companies and Internet retailers are benefiting from the trend toward online shopping and are banking on a strengthening economy and optimism about consumer spending. They are boosting hiring to meet consumers' expectations that easy shopping on their computers and mobile devices can be paired with quick delivery of the goods.

FedEx expects to invest $1.2 billion in its ground-shipping network in its current fiscal year, with most of that going to increase capacity and automation. The company said that the improvements have sped up ground delivery by a day or more in more than two-thirds of the U.S.

UPS has also invested to boost shipping capacity during the holidays, said the company's chief commercial officer, Alan Gershenhorn. He said that UPS had improved it forecasting and package tracking. UPS has not issued its forecast for holiday deliveries. The company reports third-quarter financial results on Friday.

Memphis-based FedEx said that its holiday-shipping forecast is included in its outlook for the fiscal year ending next May. The company said last month that it expects full-year earnings of $8.50 to $9 per share, assuming moderate economic growth. Analysts expect $8.99 per share, according to a survey by FactSet.

Helane Becker, an analyst with Cowen and Co., said FedEx's share of the delivery business would increase at UPS' expense because of the problems that UPS had last year. Some UPS customers didn't get packages delivered until after Christmas.

Becker said that based on the holiday forecast, better-than-expected earnings in the June-through-September quarter, and a program of buying back shares, FedEx should raise its forecast for earnings through next May.

FedEx shares rose 55 cents to $160.43 in midday trading. Through Tuesday's close, they were up 11 percent in 2014.

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Huge gold nugget going up for sale in California

SAN FRANCISCO — One of the biggest gold nuggets found in modern times in Northern California's historic Gold Country is going up for sale.

Weighing in at more than 6 pounds, the so-called Butte Nugget is expected to carry a price tag of $350,000.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports  that the owner of the nugget asked dealer Don Kagin to keep his name and the location of the discovery secret.

What is known is that it was found in July by a gold hunter on public land in the Butte County mountains.

The nugget will be unveiled Thursday at the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com

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Government ups air bag warning to 7.8M vehicles

DETROIT — The U.S. government is telling 3 million more car owners to get their air bags repaired immediately because of potential danger to drivers and passengers, but the message has generated confusion about which vehicles are actually affected.

The government's auto safety agency is now warning 7.8 million car owners that inflator mechanisms in the air bags can rupture, causing metal fragments to fly out when the bags are deployed. An initial warning issued Monday covered 4.7 million vehicles.

Safety advocates say at least four people have died from the problem, which they claim could affect more than 20 million cars nationwide. The inflators are made by Japanese parts supplier Takata Corp.

Car owners might experience some uncertainty, however, in determining if their vehicle is equipped with the potentially dangerous air bags. The warning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers certain models made by BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota.

Most of the 7.8 million vehicles are subject to existing recalls. But manufacturers have limited the recalls to high-humidity areas, excluding cars and trucks in states to the north. NHTSA says owners in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii and "limited areas near the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana" should pay special attention to the warning.

Worse yet, the regulatory agency has twice corrected the number of vehicles affected and acknowledged that a list it released Monday included some cars not equipped with Takata air bags while omitting others that have them. The agency urged people to use its website to see if their cars are affected — but a feature allowing people to check for recalls by vehicle identification number malfunctioned Monday night and still wasn't operational Wednesday.

Automakers have been recalling cars to fix the problem for several years, but neither Takata nor NHTSA have identified a firm cause. The agency opened a formal investigation into the problem in June, and a theory put forth in agency documents suggests the chemical used to inflate the air bag can be altered by high humidity, making it explode with too much force while deploying.

"It's in a total state of uproar right now," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader.

NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman said in a statement that responding to the recalls is essential to keep people safe.

"It will aid in our ongoing investigation into Takata air bags and what appears to be a problem related to extended exposure to consistently high humidity and temperatures," he said. The agency, he said, is tracking down the "full geographic scope" of the issue.

Kathryn Henry, a spokeswoman for the safety agency said it is unclear whether a high number of inquiries from car owners caused its website to malfunction, and she didn't know when it would be repaired. For now, she urged car owners to go to manufacturer websites or call their car dealer.

General Motors, which sold two models with the faulty air bags that were made by other manufacturers, planned to send letters by overnight mail to notify about 10,000 customers. The models covered are 2003 to 2005 Pontiac Vibes in high humidity areas and Saab 9-2X models. Vibes were made by Toyota, while the Saabs were made by Subaru.

The rare warning by regulators comes three weeks after a Sept. 29 crash near Orlando, Florida, that claimed the life Hien Thi Tran, who suffered severe neck wounds that investigators said could have been caused by metal fragments flying out of the air bag on her 2001 Honda Accord. Her Accord was among the models being recalled.

One police agency concluded that the air bags caused her wounds, while another is still investigating. NHTSA is seeking information in the case.

On Monday, Toyota issued a recall covering passenger air bags in 247,000 older model vehicles including the Lexus SC, Corolla, Matrix, Sequoia and Tundra. Like many earlier recalls, Toyota's covers vehicles in South Florida, along the Gulf Coast, in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa — all areas that have high absolute humidity.

Toyota said it's working with Takata to pinpoint the cause of the rupture and to gauge the influence of high absolute humidity, which is a measurement of water vapor in the air.

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