WARWICK — When Dolores Nicynski learned yesterday that her monthly Social Security benefits will go up next year, she did not rejoice.

“I don’t think it’s big enough to celebrate,” she said. “When I get through paying for the oil bill, there won’t be anything left to celebrate with,” she said.

Mrs. Nicynski, 84, a retiree who lives in Warwick’s Hoxie section, is among nearly 200,000 Social Security beneficiaries in Rhode Island — and more than 50 million nationwide — who will receive a 5.8-percent increase in their monthly benefits starting in January.

It is the largest such cost-of-living increase since July 1982, when benefits rose 7.4 percent, Social Security Administration records show. (The last increase, which took effect in January 2008, was 2.3 percent.)

For the average retired worker, next year’s increase will amount to about $63 more in monthly benefits, to $1,153 from the current $1,090.

Kathleen S. Connell, director of AARP Rhode Island, a membership organization for people 50 and older, said, “Any relief for the people who are facing the future with literal fear is a good thing.”

She also said that Social Security benefits represent the sole source of income for a significant portion of beneficiaries in Rhode Island. “So it’s crucial for them to get this kind of assistance,” she said.

Still, she said, the cost of many goods and services has risen more over the last year than the Social Security increase indicates. And many Rhode Island beneficiaries receive less than the national average monthly benefit, she said.

“So it’s welcome relief,” she said of the cost-of-living increase, “but it isn’t a bonanza by any means.”

Several beneficiaries interviewed yesterday at the Pilgrim Senior Center in Warwick said that the increase will help to offset the rising cost of food and other essentials.

Court Chamberlain, 88, a retired production control manager who lives in Warwick’s Governor Francis section, said he has felt the pinch through higher grocery prices over the last year.

“What you bought a week ago, and what you buy this week, you notice it’s gone up 10 percent,” he said.

The cost of bread, cheese, milk, eggs, meat and other such staples has skyrocketed over the last year, he said. “All you have to do is go into a shopping area” to notice the higher prices, he said.

Margaret Broccoli, 82, a retired claims processor who lives in an apartment complex near the Warwick Mall, said that while gasoline prices have fallen in recent weeks, “Food is very expensive.”

When she went to the market earlier this week to shop for her and her husband, Joseph, 84, “The bill came to almost $94” for a basket that included neither meat, fruits nor vegetables, she said. Still, she said, the benefits increase will help. “Everyone can use more money,” she said

For some other Social Security beneficiaries interviewed yesterday at the Pilgrim Senior Center, the increase will be helpful, but is not essential.

Isabel Nolan, 90, a retired telephone worker who lives in Warwick’s Buttonwoods section with her niece, said she receives a pension as well as Social Security and shares expenses with her niece. As a result, “I’m having no problem with costs going up,” she said.

Jean Benson, 81, a retired mayoral aide, lives in a condominium in Greenwood with her husband, Donald, 80, a retired banker. “We’re luckier than most,” she said. With their expenses under control, they will probably use their benefits increase to dine out or take a trip to visit their children, she said.

Joe Astor, 81, a retired salesman, lives in a condominium in Greenwood with his wife, Yolanda, 79. Their costs have risen, especially energy costs, he said. “Try heating your condo with electricity,” he said.

But they are getting by. What will he do with his Social Security increase? “I’m going to go out and have breakfast,” he said.

“He goes out every day” for breakfast as it is, his wife said with a laugh.

ndowning@projo.com