$100 in 1988 is worth $115 in 1991,
because prices increased 15.1% over that period, an average of
4.81% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$115
in 1991
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
15.1%
Average inflation rate
4.81% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$115
Price difference ($100 base)
$15.13
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 1991
136.2
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
$100 in 1988 → 1991
$115
$100 in 1991 → 1988
$86.86
What happened to prices between 1988 and 1991
Between 1988 and 1991, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 136.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 15.1%, which works out to an average of
4.81% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.87 buys in 1991: the 1988 dollar
lost 13.1% of its purchasing power over
these 3 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 1991 at the same ratio, 1.15: $1,000 becomes
$1,151, and $10,000 becomes $11,513.
Amount in 1988
Value in 1991
$1.00
$1.15
$5.00
$5.76
$10.00
$11.51
$20.00
$23.03
$50.00
$57.57
$100
$115
$500
$576
$1,000
$1,151
$5,000
$5,757
$10,000
$11,513
$100,000
$115,131
$1,000,000
$1,151,310
Inflation by spending category, 1988–1991
Between 1988 and 1991, medical care rose the most, up 27.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 11.5%, against 15.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 1991, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.81%
$115
Medical care
8.49%
$128
Food
4.86%
$115
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.82%
$115
Energy
4.70%
$115
Transportation
4.43%
$114
Housing
4.08%
$113
Apparel
3.70%
$112
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 1991
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (4.21% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–1991 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–1991
4.21%
4.2%
$115
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $105 by
1989, on its way to $115 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 4.2% in 1991.
In 1991, prices rose 4.2% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $115; 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 1988 to 1991: $100 is worth $115 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1991/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 1991. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1991/