Between 1922 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 833.9%, which works out to an average of
3.07% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.11 buys in 1996.
Consumer prices fell another 6.1% in 1922, the second straight year of
decline, even as the broader economy climbed out of the Depression of
1920-21 and industrial production rebounded. The CPI had now given back
roughly a third of its wartime runup, though it stayed well above the
1913 baseline. Congress moved to shield that recovery from
foreign competition: the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act, signed September 21,
raised duties on hundreds of imported goods to some of the highest levels in
U.S. history, a policy meant to protect farmers and manufacturers still
adjusting to postwar prices. Labor tension flared even as prices fell.
Roughly half a million bituminous coal miners struck that April over wage
cuts employers had imposed as prices dropped, and hundreds of thousands of
railroad shop workers walked out in July in a separate dispute over pay and
work rules, together the largest strike wave since 1919. Both disputes
dragged on for months and drew federal mediation before ending without full
concessions for the workers. First-class postage remained at 2 cents.
The headline number is an average. Individual categories moved very differently over this
period. Here is what $100 of 1922 spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.07%
$934
Food
3.20%
$1,029
Apparel
2.16%
$488
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1922: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Long periods are sampled every 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
Cite this page
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1996: $100 is worth $934 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1996/