Consumer prices fell 5.1% in 1933, a smaller decline than 1932’s but enough to complete a four-year slide of 24.0% from the 1929 peak. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the trough of that contraction to March 1933, closing out the longest downturn in its chronology, one that had run 43 months since August 1929. The bottom arrived alongside a change in government: Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated March 4 and, within 48 hours, ordered every bank in the country closed to halt a fresh round of runs. Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act on March 9, letting solvent banks reopen under federal supervision, and the panic that had been building for months broke almost immediately. The administration moved on the currency next: Executive Order 6102, issued April 5, required Americans to turn in most gold coin, bullion, and certificates to the Federal Reserve, taking the country off the domestic gold standard (formal devaluation of the dollar followed the next January). Congress capped the year’s banking overhaul in June with the Banking Act of 1933, commonly called Glass-Steagall, which created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and separated commercial banking from investment banking. Even after four straight years of falling prices, the CPI still stood 31.3% above its 1913 level. First-class postage held at 3 cents.
Year in review
Inflation in 1933
The U.S. inflation rate in 1933 was -5.1% (CPI: 13). Convert 1933 dollars to today →
-5.1% 1933 inflation rate
-1.9% 1930s average
0.8% peak month (Dec)
-10.0% lowest month (Mar)
What things cost in 1933
| First-class stamp | $0.03 |
|---|
What $100 from 1933 was worth later
| In 1940 | $108 |
|---|---|
| In 1950 | $185 |
| In 1960 | $228 |
| In 1970 | $298 |
| In 1980 | $634 |
| In 1990 | $1,005 |
| In 2000 | $1,325 |
| In 2010 | $1,677 |
| In 2020 | $1,991 |
| In 2026 | $2,551 |
Inflation in 1933, month by month
| Month | CPI-U | 12-month rate |
|---|---|---|
| January | 12.9 | -9.8% |
| February | 12.7 | -9.9% |
| March | 12.6 | -10.0% |
| April | 12.6 | -9.4% |
| May | 12.6 | -8.0% |
| June | 12.7 | -6.6% |
| July | 13.1 | -3.7% |
| August | 13.2 | -2.2% |
| September | 13.2 | -1.5% |
| October | 13.2 | -0.8% |
| November | 13.2 | 0.0% |
| December | 13.2 | 0.8% |
Economic events of 1933
- Consumer prices fall 5.1%, marking the Depression's trough The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the bottom of the contraction that began in August 1929 to March 1933, a 43-month downturn, the longest in its chronology back to 1854. Consumer prices had fallen in each of the four years since, a cumulative drop of 24.0% from their 1929 level.
- Roosevelt takes office and declares a nationwide bank holiday Inaugurated March 4, Roosevelt closed every bank in the country two days later to halt a fresh wave of runs, and Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act on March 9 to begin reopening solvent institutions under federal supervision.
- The United States leaves the gold standard Executive Order 6102, issued April 5, required Americans to turn in most gold coin, bullion, and certificates to Federal Reserve banks, ending the domestic gold standard; formal devaluation of the dollar followed the next January under the Gold Reserve Act.
- The Banking Act of 1933 creates federal deposit insurance Signed June 16 and commonly known as Glass-Steagall, the law established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and separated commercial banking from investment banking, aiming to prevent the kind of bank runs that had defined the previous three years.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index history; National Bureau of Economic Research, US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions; Federal Reserve History; USPS historical postage rates.
Inflation figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages. See the methodology.