Annual U.S. inflation, 2001–2021, with 2011 highlighted. Bars below the line
are deflation. Source: BLS CPI-U.
2011 brought the fastest inflation of the post-recession recovery. Consumer
prices rose 3.2%, roughly double the 2010 pace, and the cause was mostly at the
pump and the grocery store. Unrest across the Middle East and North Africa,
including the war in Libya, pushed gasoline to an annual average of $3.52 a
gallon, the highest yearly figure recorded to that point. Food prices also
rose faster than the overall index.
Household budgets did not keep up. The median household income was $50,054,
barely above the year before, and the median new home sold for about $227,200.
The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and a first-class stamp at 44 cents.
Policy stayed loose. The Federal Reserve kept its policy rate near zero and
launched Operation Twist in September to lower long-term rates. Washington
spent the summer in a debt-ceiling fight that ended in S&P’s August downgrade
of the U.S. credit rating. The inflation spike proved temporary: the
2011 rate was the high point of the early 2010s, and prices grew more slowly
in every year that followed until 2017.
What things cost in 2011
In 2011, the median household income was $50,054, and a gallon of gas cost $3.52.
Median household income
$50,054
Gas (per gallon)
$3.52
Median home price
$227,200
First-class stamp
$0.44
Federal minimum wage
$7.25
What $100 from 2011 was worth later
$100 from 2011 had the buying power of $148
by 2026; each milestone links to that conversion.
Consumer prices rise 3.2%, the fastest pace since 2007.
Consumer prices rise 3.2%, the fastest pace since 2007 Energy and food drove the increase. Gasoline set a new annual record after Arab Spring unrest and the Libyan civil war disrupted oil supply, and drought and export demand lifted grain and meat prices.
Standard & Poor's downgrades the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ On August 5, after a standoff over the federal debt ceiling that ended with the Budget Control Act, S&P stripped the United States of its top rating for the first time. Stocks fell sharply, but Treasury yields dropped as investors sought safety anyway.
The Fed launches "Operation Twist" in September The Federal Reserve sold short-term Treasuries and bought longer-term ones to push down long-term interest rates without expanding its balance sheet, and said it expected to keep its policy rate near zero through mid-2013.
The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disrupt global supply chains The March 11 disaster in Japan halted production at auto and electronics suppliers, and U.S. car makers cut output for several months.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, U.S. city average); U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (income); U.S. Census Bureau, New Residential Sales (home price); U.S. Energy Information Administration (gasoline); U.S. Department of Labor (minimum wage); USPS historical rates; Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, press releases.
Inflation figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages.
See the methodology.