Consumer prices rose 0.8% in 1953, down from 1952’s 1.9% as fighting in Korea wound toward a truce and three years of wartime buying pressure finally eased. The year’s biggest shock came from Moscow: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died March 5 after nearly three decades in power, the first change of Soviet leadership since the 1920s, opening a period of uncertainty over how his successors would deal with the West. Washington used the calmer backdrop to unwind its own wartime machinery. Authority for the price and wage controls imposed in 1951 lapsed that spring, as the Eisenhower administration, which favored free markets over controls, wound down the Office of Price Stabilization. The war itself ended, on paper, that July: negotiators signed an armistice July 27 at Panmunjom, halting the fighting roughly along the original border near the 38th parallel. No formal peace treaty ever followed, and North and South Korea remain technically at war. Consumer prices finished 1953 169.7% above their 1913 level. First-class postage held at 3 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at 75 cents an hour.
Year in review
Inflation in 1953
The U.S. inflation rate in 1953 was 0.8% (CPI: 26.7). Convert 1953 dollars to today →
0.8% 1953 inflation rate
2.1% 1950s average
1.1% peak month (Mar)
0.4% lowest month (Jul)
What things cost in 1953
| First-class stamp | $0.03 |
|---|---|
| Federal minimum wage | $0.75 |
What $100 from 1953 was worth later
| In 1960 | $111 |
|---|---|
| In 1970 | $145 |
| In 1980 | $309 |
| In 1990 | $490 |
| In 2000 | $645 |
| In 2010 | $817 |
| In 2020 | $969 |
| In 2026 | $1,242 |
Inflation in 1953, month by month
| Month | CPI-U | 12-month rate |
|---|---|---|
| January | 26.6 | 0.4% |
| February | 26.5 | 0.8% |
| March | 26.6 | 1.1% |
| April | 26.6 | 0.8% |
| May | 26.7 | 1.1% |
| June | 26.8 | 1.1% |
| July | 26.8 | 0.4% |
| August | 26.9 | 0.7% |
| September | 26.9 | 0.7% |
| October | 27 | 1.1% |
| November | 26.9 | 0.7% |
| December | 26.9 | 0.7% |
Economic events of 1953
- Consumer prices rise 0.8% as Korean War inflation cools The slowdown from 1952's 1.9% came as fighting in Korea wound toward a truce and the wartime buying pressure of the past three years eased.
- Stalin dies, reshaping the Cold War Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died March 5 after nearly three decades in power, the first change of Soviet leadership since the 1920s, opening a period of uncertainty in Moscow's relationship with the West.
- Wartime price and wage controls expire Authority for the controls imposed in 1951 lapsed that spring, and the Eisenhower administration, which favored free markets over controls, wound down the Office of Price Stabilization.
- The Korean War ends in an armistice, not a peace treaty Negotiators signed the armistice July 27 at Panmunjom, halting the fighting roughly along the original border near the 38th parallel; no formal peace treaty ever followed.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index history; U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian (Korean War armistice; Stalin's death); Federal Reserve History (end of Korean War price controls).
Inflation figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages. See the methodology.