$100 in 1987 is worth $120 in 1991,
because prices increased 19.9% over that period, an average of
4.64% a year.
$100 in 1987 has
the same buying power as
$120
in 1991
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
19.9%
Average inflation rate
4.64% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$120
Price difference ($100 base)
$19.89
CPI in 1987
113.6
CPI in 1991
136.2
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
$100 in 1987 → 1991
$120
$100 in 1991 → 1987
$83.41
What happened to prices between 1987 and 1991
Between 1987 and 1991, the Consumer Price Index went from 113.6 to 136.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 19.9%, which works out to an average of
4.64% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1987 bought what
$0.83 buys in 1991: the 1987 dollar
lost 16.6% of its purchasing power over
these 4 years.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
Every 1987 amount converts to 1991 at the same ratio, 1.20: $1,000 becomes
$1,199, and $10,000 becomes $11,989.
Amount in 1987
Value in 1991
$1.00
$1.20
$5.00
$5.99
$10.00
$11.99
$20.00
$23.98
$50.00
$59.95
$100
$120
$500
$599
$1,000
$1,199
$5,000
$5,995
$10,000
$11,989
$100,000
$119,894
$1,000,000
$1,198,944
Inflation by spending category, 1987–1991
Between 1987 and 1991, medical care rose the most, up 36.0%, while energy rose the least, up 15.7%, against 19.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1987
spending costs in 1991, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1987 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.64%
$120
Medical care
8.00%
$136
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.71%
$120
Food
4.68%
$120
Transportation
4.10%
$117
Housing
4.00%
$117
Apparel
3.86%
$116
Energy
3.71%
$116
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1987: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1987 to 1991
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.78% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (4.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1987–1991 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1987, at end
1987–1990
4.78%
15.1%
$115
1990–1991
4.21%
4.2%
$120
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1987
$100 from 1987 had already become $109 by
1989, on its way to $120 in 1991; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 5.4% in 1990, and the smallest rise was 4.1% in 1988.
In 1991, prices rose 4.2% and $100 from 1987 had the buying
power of $120; the year's average CPI of 136.2 is the level
behind every 1991 figure on this page.
1991 opened in recession and closed in a slow, uneven recovery. The median household earned
about $30,100 for the year, gas averaged $1.14 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $120,000.
Inflation ran at 4.2% for the year, down from 1990’s oil-driven spike, as the Gulf War ended in
February and crude oil retreated from its autumn highs. The recession itself, dated by the
National Bureau of Economic Research from July 1990 to March 1991, was technically over by
spring, but hiring stayed weak well into 1992, the stretch economists came to call the jobless
recovery. The Federal Reserve kept cutting interest rates through the year to support growth,
reversing the tightening campaign it had run through the late 1980s. In April the federal
minimum wage rose to $4.25 an hour, the second step of an increase from the $3.35 rate that had
held since 1981. The Postal Service had already raised the cost of a first-class stamp to 29
cents that February. It was the first full year of the decade without an oil shock driving
prices, even if the job market took longer to follow.
MLA: “Inflation from 1987 to 1991: $100 is worth $120 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1991/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1987 to 1991. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1987-to-1991/