Environmental science chart assignment

Chart 1 of 1 · Inflation

How fast are US prices rising?

The inflation rate was 3.7% in September 2026: how much consumer prices changed from the same month a year earlier. Each point makes that comparison, back to 1914, the first year BLS can compare. Inflation peaked at 23.7% in June 1920 and at 14.8% in March 1980; the 9.1% of June 2022 was the highest since 1981. Prices fell as fast as 15.8% a year in 1921 and 10.7% in 1932. BLS collected no prices in October 2025, during a lapse in federal funding, so that month and October 2026 are missing.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, all items) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Sep 30, 2026

How to read this chart

Each point compares consumer prices in a month with the same month a year earlier. A value of 3 means things cost about 3% more than a year before; below zero means prices fell. The chart shows how fast prices change, not how high they are.

Questions

1. Find two times when inflation was highest. What was happening in the country then?
2. If inflation falls from 8% to 3%, are prices going down, or just rising more slowly?
3. Find a stretch when the line is below zero. Why might falling prices be bad news for workers and businesses?

Chart and numbers: chart.ly/charts/us-inflation-rate · More free charts at chart.ly