$100 in 1988 is worth $138 in 1998,
because prices increased 37.8% over that period, an average of
3.26% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$138
in 1998
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
37.8%
Average inflation rate
3.26% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$138
Price difference ($100 base)
$37.79
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 1998
163
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
$100 in 1988 → 1998
$138
$100 in 1998 → 1988
$72.58
What happened to prices between 1988 and 1998
Between 1988 and 1998, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 163.
Cumulatively, prices increased 37.8%, which works out to an average of
3.26% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.73 buys in 1998: the 1988 dollar
lost 27.4% of its purchasing power over
these 10 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 1998 at the same ratio, 1.38: $1,000 becomes
$1,378, and $10,000 becomes $13,779.
Amount in 1988
Value in 1998
$1.00
$1.38
$5.00
$6.89
$10.00
$13.78
$20.00
$27.56
$50.00
$68.89
$100
$138
$500
$689
$1,000
$1,378
$5,000
$6,889
$10,000
$13,779
$100,000
$137,785
$1,000,000
$1,377,853
Inflation by spending category, 1988–1998
Between 1988 and 1998, medical care rose the most, up 74.7%, while energy rose the least, up 15.2%, against 37.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 1998, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.26%
$138
Medical care
5.74%
$175
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.46%
$141
Food
3.12%
$136
Housing
3.07%
$135
Transportation
2.68%
$130
Apparel
1.43%
$115
Energy
1.43%
$115
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 1998
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–1998 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–1998
2.80%
24.7%
$138
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $122 by
1993, on its way to $138 in 1998; 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 1.6% in 1998.
In 1998, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $138; the year's average CPI of 163 is the level
behind every 1998 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 1998: $100 is worth $138 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1998/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 1998. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-1998/