How fast did consumer prices rise?
Each bar shows inflation in a term: how fast the prices people pay for goods and services rose, as an average per year.
Prices rose in 12 terms.
Rise in consumer prices in each term, in % a year.
Reagan 1: consumer prices rose 21.3% from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, an average of 4.9% a year.Reagan 1: consumer prices rose 21.3% from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, an average of 4.9% a year.Reagan 2: consumer prices rose 14.8% from Jan 1985 to Jan 1989, an average of 3.5% a year.Bush (H.W.): consumer prices rose 17.8% from Jan 1989 to Jan 1993, an average of 4.2% a year.Clinton 1: consumer prices rose 11.6% from Jan 1993 to Jan 1997, an average of 2.8% a year.Clinton 2: consumer prices rose 10.1% from Jan 1997 to Jan 2001, an average of 2.4% a year.Bush (W.) 1: consumer prices rose 8.9% from Jan 2001 to Jan 2005, an average of 2.2% a year.Bush (W.) 2: consumer prices rose 10.7% from Jan 2005 to Jan 2009, an average of 2.6% a year.Obama 1: consumer prices rose 9.1% from Jan 2009 to Jan 2013, an average of 2.2% a year.Obama 2: consumer prices rose 5.5% from Jan 2013 to Jan 2017, an average of 1.3% a year.Trump 1: consumer prices rose 7.7% from Jan 2017 to Jan 2021, an average of 1.9% a year.Biden: consumer prices rose 21.4% from Jan 2021 to Jan 2025, an average of 5.0% a year.Trump 2: consumer prices rose 5.4% from Jan 2025 to Aug 2026, an average of 3.4% a year. Measure: CPI-U all items, US city average, not seasonally adjusted. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U), series CUUR0000SA0.
Reagan 1: during this term, BLS began to price the housing of people who own their home in a new way. Its words: “Introduced rental equivalence concept in January 1983 for the CPI-U and in January 1985 for the CPI-W.” The index stayed one series, so this term’s months mix both methods.
Clinton 2: in 1999, during this term, BLS began to average the prices of similar goods in a new way. Its words: “Began using a geometric mean formula for most basic indexes.” The index stayed one series, so this term’s months mix both methods.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Each bar compares the price index in a term’s last month with its value in the month before the term began. January counts for the president leaving office. A term’s own months run from February of its first year to January four years later. The term still running ends with the latest month BLS has published. The bar turns that change into one steady rise per year, so a short term and a full one use the same scale.
The index here is the version before seasonal adjustment. BLS doesn’t revise it after it’s published. It covers what people in towns and cities pay for food, housing, fuel, transport, health care and other goods and services. BLS has published it monthly since 1913.
Months with no value
- October 2025 (Trump 2): BLS published no value for this month. No number here uses it, and nothing is filled in. BLS: “BLS could not collect October 2025 reference period survey data. Survey data for commodities and services were carried forward to October 2025 from September 2025. November 2025 indexes were calculated by comparing the collected November 2025 prices with the carried-forward October 2025 prices.”
Other changes BLS made to this index (it stayed one series through each)
- 1987 (fifth comprehensive revision): “Based weights on the 1982–84 Consumer Expenditure Survey and the 1980 Census”
- 1998 (sixth comprehensive revision): “Based weights on the 1993–95 Consumer Expenditure Survey”
- 2002: “Implemented biennial weight updates ... Added the C-CPI-U in August”
- 2023: “Implemented annual weight updates”
- April and June 2025: “In April, BLS suspended CPI data collection entirely in Lincoln, NE, and Provo, UT. In June, BLS suspended collection entirely in Buffalo, NY. ... These actions have minimal impact on the overall all-items CPI-U and CPI-W indexes”
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
What this chart asks
Inflation is the rise in consumer prices: the prices of all the goods and services people buy. Each bar shows how fast they rose or fell during one term, as an average per year, so a short term and a full one share one scale.
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How to read one bar
Reagan 1: consumer prices rose 21.3% from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, an average of 4.9% a year.Reagan 1: consumer prices rose 21.3% from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, an average of 4.9% a year.Reagan 2: consumer prices rose 14.8% from Jan 1985 to Jan 1989, an average of 3.5% a year.Bush (H.W.): consumer prices rose 17.8% from Jan 1989 to Jan 1993, an average of 4.2% a year.Clinton 1: consumer prices rose 11.6% from Jan 1993 to Jan 1997, an average of 2.8% a year.Clinton 2: consumer prices rose 10.1% from Jan 1997 to Jan 2001, an average of 2.4% a year.Bush (W.) 1: consumer prices rose 8.9% from Jan 2001 to Jan 2005, an average of 2.2% a year.Bush (W.) 2: consumer prices rose 10.7% from Jan 2005 to Jan 2009, an average of 2.6% a year.Obama 1: consumer prices rose 9.1% from Jan 2009 to Jan 2013, an average of 2.2% a year.Obama 2: consumer prices rose 5.5% from Jan 2013 to Jan 2017, an average of 1.3% a year.Trump 1: consumer prices rose 7.7% from Jan 2017 to Jan 2021, an average of 1.9% a year.Biden: consumer prices rose 21.4% from Jan 2021 to Jan 2025, an average of 5.0% a year.Trump 2: consumer prices rose 5.4% from Jan 2025 to Aug 2026, an average of 3.4% a year. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s own years, the change in prices over the whole term with its two months, and the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates (the standard US recession dates).
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Terms to read with care
Reagan 1 and Clinton 2: BLS changed how it builds the index during each of these terms. The notes under the chart quote BLS.
Trump 2 is still running, so its striped bar runs only to Aug 2026, the latest month.
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Up or down, term by term
The line under the question counts the bars. Prices rose in 12 terms.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, gives the rule in full, the months with no value and each change BLS made.
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Each term’s numbers
The numbers behind the chart above, as a table for every term, in time order and measured the same way. The median is the middle value of the terms measured.
| Term | On the chart | Period counted | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | +4.9% | Jan 1981 to Jan 1985 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Reagan 2 | +3.5% | Jan 1985 to Jan 1989 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Bush (H.W.) | +4.2% | Jan 1989 to Jan 1993 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Clinton 1 | +2.8% | Jan 1993 to Jan 1997 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Clinton 2 | +2.4% | Jan 1997 to Jan 2001 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Bush (W.) 1 | +2.2% | Jan 2001 to Jan 2005 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Bush (W.) 2 | +2.6% | Jan 2005 to Jan 2009 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Obama 1 | +2.2% | Jan 2009 to Jan 2013 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Obama 2 | +1.3% | Jan 2013 to Jan 2017 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Trump 1 | +1.9% | Jan 2017 to Jan 2021 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Biden | +5.0% | Jan 2021 to Jan 2025 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Trump 2 so far | +3.4% | Jan 2025 to Aug 2026 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Median of the terms measured | +2.7% | |||
How we counted, in short
- Consumer prices (inflation): the chart shows the average rise per year over the term’s months. Series: CPI-U all items, US city average, not seasonally adjusted. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U).
Download this topic’s data (CSV)Every row of every series these tables read, from the first period a term counts, as each agency publishes it.