Consumer prices fell 1.4% in 1939, closing out a decade in which the CPI fell in six years and rose in four, leaving prices 18.7% below their 1929 level even after the mid-decade recovery. Measured against the start of the CPI’s modern record, prices still stood 40.4% above their 1913 level, a reminder that even a decade defined by deflation left the cost of living well above where it had been a generation earlier. The decade’s final months reset the economic picture entirely. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, and Britain and France declared war two days later; the United States stayed formally neutral under the Neutrality Acts, but Allied orders for war materiel began flowing to American factories almost immediately, a demand shock that would do more to end the Depression over the next few years than any peacetime relief program had managed. Domestic policy kept building on the New Deal’s framework, too: the federal minimum wage rose to 30 cents an hour that October, the second step in the schedule set by the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. Amid it all, the New York World’s Fair opened April 30 in Queens, themed “The World of Tomorrow” and drawing tens of millions of visitors with exhibits on television and other technologies promising a more prosperous decade than the one just ending. First-class postage held at 3 cents.
Year in review
Inflation in 1939
The U.S. inflation rate in 1939 was -1.4% (CPI: 13.9). Convert 1939 dollars to today →
-1.4% 1939 inflation rate
-1.9% 1930s average
0.0% peak month (Sep)
-2.8% lowest month (Apr)
What things cost in 1939
| First-class stamp | $0.03 |
|---|---|
| Federal minimum wage | $0.30 |
What $100 from 1939 was worth later
| In 1940 | $101 |
|---|---|
| In 1950 | $173 |
| In 1960 | $213 |
| In 1970 | $279 |
| In 1980 | $593 |
| In 1990 | $940 |
| In 2000 | $1,239 |
| In 2010 | $1,569 |
| In 2020 | $1,862 |
| In 2026 | $2,386 |
Inflation in 1939, month by month
| Month | CPI-U | 12-month rate |
|---|---|---|
| January | 14 | -1.4% |
| February | 13.9 | -1.4% |
| March | 13.9 | -1.4% |
| April | 13.8 | -2.8% |
| May | 13.8 | -2.1% |
| June | 13.8 | -2.1% |
| July | 13.8 | -2.1% |
| August | 13.8 | -2.1% |
| September | 14.1 | 0.0% |
| October | 14 | 0.0% |
| November | 14 | 0.0% |
| December | 14 | 0.0% |
Economic events of 1939
- Consumer prices fall 1.4%, closing out a decade of deflation The CPI ended 1939 18.7% below its 1929 level; across the 1930s, prices fell in six years and rose in four, leaving the decade's net change firmly negative even after the mid-decade recovery.
- Germany invades Poland, and World War II begins in Europe Germany's September 1 invasion prompted Britain and France to declare war two days later. The United States stayed formally neutral under the Neutrality Acts, but Allied orders for war materiel began flowing to American factories, a demand shock that would do more to end the Depression than any peacetime program had.
- The federal minimum wage rises to 30 cents an hour The increase, effective October 24, followed the schedule built into the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, which stepped the wage floor up gradually toward 40 cents by 1945.
- The New York World's Fair opens Themed "The World of Tomorrow," the fair opened April 30 on the site of a former Queens ash dump, drawing tens of millions of visitors with exhibits on television, nylon, and other technologies promising a more prosperous future than the decade just ending had delivered.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index history; U.S. Department of Labor, history of the Fair Labor Standards Act; USPS historical postage rates.
Inflation figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages. See the methodology.