Annual U.S. inflation, 2009–2026, with 2019 highlighted. Bars below the line
are deflation. Source: BLS CPI-U.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
What things cost in 2019
In 2019, the median household income was $68,703, and a gallon of gas cost $2.60.
Median household income
$68,703
Gas (per gallon)
$2.60
Median home price
$328,000
First-class stamp
$0.55
Federal minimum wage
$7.25
What $100 from 2019 was worth later
$100 from 2019 had the buying power of $130
by 2026; each milestone links to that conversion.
Consumer prices rise 1.8% in the last full year before the pandemic.
Consumer prices rise 1.8% in the last full year before the pandemic Inflation stayed just under the Fed's 2% target. Gasoline averaged less than in 2018, while shelter and medical care continued to rise faster than the overall index.
The Fed cuts rates three times, to 1.50–1.75% Cuts on July 31, September 18, and October 30 reversed part of 2018's tightening. Officials cited slowing global growth, trade-war uncertainty, and inflation running below target, and called the moves a mid-cycle adjustment.
The economic expansion becomes the longest on record In July, growth that began in June 2009 passed the 120-month expansion of 1991–2001, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The federal minimum wage reaches ten years without an increase On July 24 the $7.25 wage, set in 2009, became the longest stretch without a raise since the federal minimum was created in 1938. Twenty-nine states and D.C. had set higher minimums by then.
The yield curve inverts in August The ten-year Treasury yield fell below the two-year yield, a pattern that has preceded most recent recessions, for the first time since 2007.
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; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Inflation figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages.
See the methodology.