$100 in 1988 is worth $133 in 1996,
because prices increased 32.6% over that period, an average of
3.59% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$133
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
32.6%
Average inflation rate
3.59% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$133
Price difference ($100 base)
$32.63
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1988 → 1996
$133
$100 in 1996 → 1988
$75.40
What happened to prices between 1988 and 1996
Between 1988 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 32.6%, which works out to an average of
3.59% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.75 buys in 1996: the 1988 dollar
lost 24.6% of its purchasing power over
these 8 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 1996 at the same ratio, 1.33: $1,000 becomes
$1,326, and $10,000 becomes $13,263.
Amount in 1988
Value in 1996
$1.00
$1.33
$5.00
$6.63
$10.00
$13.26
$20.00
$26.53
$50.00
$66.31
$100
$133
$500
$663
$1,000
$1,326
$5,000
$6,631
$10,000
$13,263
$100,000
$132,629
$1,000,000
$1,326,289
Inflation by spending category, 1988–1996
Between 1988 and 1996, medical care rose the most, up 64.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 14.1%, against 32.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.59%
$133
Medical care
6.43%
$165
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.75%
$134
Transportation
3.49%
$132
Food
3.30%
$130
Housing
3.23%
$129
Energy
2.65%
$123
Apparel
1.67%
$114
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 1996
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (3.09% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–1996 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–1996
3.09%
20.0%
$133
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $119 by
1992, on its way to $133 in 1996; 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 2.6% in 1994.
In 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $133; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 1996: $100 is worth $133 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1996/