Consumer prices fell 0.4% in 1955, the first annual decline since 1949, as a strong rebound from the 1953-54 recession delivered growth without much price pressure; automakers and appliance makers competed hard on price for a booming consumer market. Organized labor consolidated that December, when the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged on the 5th under President George Meany, uniting roughly 15 million workers in the AFL-CIO after two decades as rival federations. That same day, a different kind of organizing began in Montgomery, Alabama: four days after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, the city’s Black community began a boycott of its buses that would last more than a year and help launch the civil rights movement’s mass phase. Markets got a scare that September: news of Eisenhower’s heart attack on the 24th sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its steepest one-day drop since the 1929 crash when trading resumed that Monday, before stocks recovered as the president’s health improved. Consumer prices finished 1955 170.7% above their 1913 level, essentially unchanged from where they stood a year earlier. First-class postage held at 3 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at 75 cents an hour.
Year in review
Inflation in 1955
The U.S. inflation rate in 1955 was -0.4% (CPI: 26.8). Convert 1955 dollars to today →
-0.4% 1955 inflation rate
2.1% 1950s average
0.4% peak month (Dec)
-0.7% lowest month (Jan)
What things cost in 1955
| First-class stamp | $0.03 |
|---|---|
| Federal minimum wage | $0.75 |
What $100 from 1955 was worth later
| In 1960 | $110 |
|---|---|
| In 1970 | $145 |
| In 1980 | $307 |
| In 1990 | $488 |
| In 2000 | $643 |
| In 2010 | $814 |
| In 2020 | $966 |
| In 2026 | $1,238 |
Inflation in 1955, month by month
| Month | CPI-U | 12-month rate |
|---|---|---|
| January | 26.7 | -0.7% |
| February | 26.7 | -0.7% |
| March | 26.7 | -0.7% |
| April | 26.7 | -0.4% |
| May | 26.7 | -0.7% |
| June | 26.7 | -0.7% |
| July | 26.8 | -0.4% |
| August | 26.8 | -0.4% |
| September | 26.9 | 0.4% |
| October | 26.9 | 0.4% |
| November | 26.9 | 0.4% |
| December | 26.8 | 0.4% |
Economic events of 1955
- Consumer prices fall 0.4%, the first decline since 1949 A rebound from the 1953-54 recession brought strong growth without much price pressure, as auto and appliance makers competed hard on price for a booming consumer market.
- The AFL and CIO merge into a single labor federation The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged December 5 under President George Meany, uniting roughly 15 million workers in the AFL-CIO after two decades as rival federations.
- Eisenhower's heart attack rattles Wall Street News of the president's September 24 heart attack sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its steepest one-day drop since the 1929 crash when trading resumed that Monday, before markets recovered as Eisenhower's health improved.
- The Montgomery Bus Boycott begins Four days after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, Montgomery's Black community began a boycott of the city's buses that would last more than a year.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index history; AFL-CIO, history of the 1955 merger; Federal Reserve History (1955 stock market reaction to Eisenhower's illness); National Archives (Montgomery Bus Boycott).
Inflation figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages. See the methodology.