$100 in 1988 is worth $119 in 1992,
because prices increased 18.6% over that period, an average of
4.36% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$119
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
18.6%
Average inflation rate
4.36% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$119
Price difference ($100 base)
$18.60
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1988 → 1992
$119
$100 in 1992 → 1988
$84.32
What happened to prices between 1988 and 1992
Between 1988 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 18.6%, which works out to an average of
4.36% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.84 buys in 1992: the 1988 dollar
lost 15.7% of its purchasing power over
these 4 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 1992 at the same ratio, 1.19: $1,000 becomes
$1,186, and $10,000 becomes $11,860.
Amount in 1988
Value in 1992
$1.00
$1.19
$5.00
$5.93
$10.00
$11.86
$20.00
$23.72
$50.00
$59.30
$100
$119
$500
$593
$1,000
$1,186
$5,000
$5,930
$10,000
$11,860
$100,000
$118,597
$1,000,000
$1,185,968
Inflation by spending category, 1988–1992
Between 1988 and 1992, medical care rose the most, up 37.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 14.3%, against 18.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.36%
$119
Medical care
8.22%
$137
Core (all items less food & energy)
4.53%
$119
Food
3.93%
$117
Transportation
3.86%
$116
Housing
3.79%
$116
Energy
3.63%
$115
Apparel
3.40%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 1992
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–1992 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–1992
3.61%
7.3%
$119
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $110 by
1990, on its way to $119 in 1992; 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 3.0% in 1992.
In 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $119; the year's average CPI of 140.3 is the level
behind every 1992 figure on this page.
1992 was the year the recovery finally showed up in the numbers, if not yet in hiring. The
median household earned about $30,600, gas averaged $1.13 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly
$121,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, its calmest reading since the mid-1980s, as energy
prices stayed well below their 1990 peak and a slack labor market kept a lid on wages and prices
alike. The Federal Reserve kept cutting its policy rate through the year, reaching about 3% by
September, the lowest in decades, trying to jump-start hiring more than a year after the 1990-91
recession officially ended. The sluggish job market became the defining issue of the November
election, and Bill Clinton unseated incumbent George H.W. Bush, whose approval ratings had
fallen sharply from their post-Gulf War highs. In August, Hurricane Andrew tore through South
Florida, the costliest U.S. hurricane on record at the time, causing tens of billions of dollars
in damage and reshaping how insurers priced catastrophe risk for years afterward. Falling rates,
a costly hurricane, and an election fought over jobs defined a recovery that showed up in the
data well before it showed up in most paychecks.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 1992: $100 is worth $119 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1992/