The US inflation rate has been on the rise since last year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the inflation rate for November reached 6.8% over the last year. This is the highest point since 1982.
US Inflation Rate since 2020
In the beginning of 2020, the US inflation rate was around 2% and it dropped close to zero during the covid pandemic beginning. Since then inflation rate has been on the rise due to the Federal Reserve’s action and influx of money government’s pandemic relief efforts.
US inflation rate was calculated from CPI data for all items in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted available, at Bureau of Labor Statistics.
US Inflation Rate for the last 10 years
In the last decade, US inflation rate has been low, hovering around 2%.
US Inflation Rate since 1980
The inflation rate was high in the beginning of the 80s. Since then the rate has been in the range of 2%-4% till 2020. Here is a look at the inflation rate since 1980.
Download US CPI and inflation rate from 1980 here US inflation rate data since 1980.
Also check out Inflation rate calculator on BLS webiste.
Here is how US BLS describes on what is Consumer Price Index and how is it computed.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change in prices paid by consumers for goods and services. The CPI reflects spending patterns for each of two population groups: all urban consumers and urban wage earners and clerical workers. The all urban consumer group represents about 93 percent of the total U.S. population. It is based on the expenditures of almost all residents of urban or metropolitan areas, including professionals, the self-employed, the poor, the unemployed, and retired people, as well as urban wage earners and clerical workers. Not included in the CPI are the spending patterns of people living in rural nonmetropolitan areas, farming families, people in the Armed Forces, and those in institutions, such as prisons and mental hospitals.