Consumer prices rose 8.3% in 1946, up sharply from 1945’s 2.3% and the sharpest increase since 1942, as wartime price controls finally came apart. Congress let the Office of Price Administration’s authority lapse at the end of June, reinstated a weaker version soon after, then wound the whole system down through the rest of the year, releasing years of pent-up demand into the price level almost at once. Meat was the clearest casualty of the fight over decontrol: farmers withheld livestock rather than sell at capped prices, producing severe shortages that spring and summer until ceilings on meat were lifted that October, after which supplies reappeared almost overnight. Labor cashed in its own wartime restraint the same year. An estimated 4.6 million workers walked out at some point in 1946, hitting steel, coal, automakers, and the railroads in the largest strike wave in U.S. history, as unions pushed for wage gains to offset cost-of-living increases controls could no longer contain. Amid the turmoil, Congress made a less visible but lasting change to economic policy: the Employment Act of 1946, signed that February, committed the federal government to promoting maximum employment and created the Council of Economic Advisers. Consumer prices stood 97.0% above their 1913 level, nearly double where the index had started 33 years earlier. First-class postage held at 3 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at 40 cents an hour.
Year in review
Inflation in 1946
The U.S. inflation rate in 1946 was 8.3% (CPI: 19.5). Convert 1946 dollars to today →
8.3% 1946 inflation rate
5.6% 1940s average
18.1% peak month (Dec)
1.7% lowest month (Feb)
What things cost in 1946
| First-class stamp | $0.03 |
|---|---|
| Federal minimum wage | $0.40 |
What $100 from 1946 was worth later
| In 1950 | $124 |
|---|---|
| In 1960 | $152 |
| In 1970 | $199 |
| In 1980 | $423 |
| In 1990 | $670 |
| In 2000 | $883 |
| In 2010 | $1,118 |
| In 2020 | $1,327 |
| In 2026 | $1,701 |
Inflation in 1946, month by month
| Month | CPI-U | 12-month rate |
|---|---|---|
| January | 18.2 | 2.2% |
| February | 18.1 | 1.7% |
| March | 18.3 | 2.8% |
| April | 18.4 | 3.4% |
| May | 18.5 | 3.4% |
| June | 18.7 | 3.3% |
| July | 19.8 | 9.4% |
| August | 20.2 | 11.6% |
| September | 20.4 | 12.7% |
| October | 20.8 | 14.9% |
| November | 21.3 | 17.7% |
| December | 21.5 | 18.1% |
Economic events of 1946
- Consumer prices rise 8.3% as wartime price controls unravel Congress let the Office of Price Administration's authority lapse at the end of June, briefly reinstated a weaker version, then wound controls down through the rest of the year, releasing pent-up wartime demand into consumer prices.
- A nationwide meat shortage follows the fight over price controls Farmers withheld livestock rather than sell at capped prices, producing severe meat shortages that spring and summer; ceilings on meat were lifted that October, and supplies reappeared almost immediately.
- The largest strike wave in U.S. history hits steel, coal, autos, and rail An estimated 4.6 million workers walked out at some point in 1946 as unions pushed for wage gains after years of wartime restraint, the biggest strike wave in the country's history.
- The Employment Act of 1946 commits the government to fighting unemployment Signed February 20, the law made maximum employment a formal goal of federal policy for the first time and created the Council of Economic Advisers to advise the president on the economy.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index history; Federal Reserve History (decontrol; postwar strikes); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, history of work stoppages.
Inflation figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages. See the methodology.