$100 in 1988 is worth $110 in 1990,
because prices increased 10.5% over that period, an average of
5.11% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$110
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
10.5%
Average inflation rate
5.11% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$110
Price difference ($100 base)
$10.48
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1988 → 1990
$110
$100 in 1990 → 1988
$90.51
What happened to prices between 1988 and 1990
Between 1988 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 10.5%, which works out to an average of
5.11% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.91 buys in 1990: the 1988 dollar
lost 9.5% of its purchasing power over
these 2 years.
By 1988, the economic expansion that began in the ashes of the 1981-82
recession was in its sixth year, and the Federal Reserve was watching for
signs it had run too long. Inflation rose to 4.1%, up from 3.6% the year
before, while unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1974. Alan
Greenspan’s Fed responded by raising the federal funds rate through the
year, from about 6.5% to 8.5%, trying to cool demand before prices
accelerated the way they had in the 1970s. Households still felt the
difference between this expansion and the last one: gas held near 90 cents
a gallon, almost exactly its 1987 price, and median household income rose
to roughly $27,200. The one price that moved was postage, which rose from
22 to 25 cents in April, the fourth increase of the decade but a far
gentler pace than the string of increases in the late 1970s and early
1980s. In November, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidency on
the strength of the expansion, promising in his nomination speech to hold
the line on taxes. Both the boom and that pledge would run into trouble
within two years, as the Fed’s rate increases helped tip the economy toward
the 1990-91 recession.
Every 1988 amount converts to 1990 at the same ratio, 1.10: $1,000 becomes
$1,105, and $10,000 becomes $11,048.
Amount in 1988
Value in 1990
$1.00
$1.10
$5.00
$5.52
$10.00
$11.05
$20.00
$22.10
$50.00
$55.24
$100
$110
$500
$552
$1,000
$1,105
$5,000
$5,524
$10,000
$11,048
$100,000
$110,482
$1,000,000
$1,104,818
Inflation by spending category, 1988–1990
Between 1988 and 1990, medical care rose the most, up 17.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 7.5%, against 10.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
5.11%
$110
Medical care
8.38%
$117
Energy
6.93%
$114
Food
5.84%
$112
Transportation
5.29%
$111
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.79%
$110
Housing
4.13%
$108
Apparel
3.70%
$108
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $105 by
1989, on its way to $110 in 1990; 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 4.8% in 1989.
In 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $110; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 1990: $100 is worth $110 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1990/