Economy

Charted: Four Decades of U.S. Inflation

Published

3 years ago

July 4, 2022

Pablo Alvarez

Featured Creator

Article/Editing:

Carmen Ang

Four Decades of U.S. Inflation

Charted: Four Decades of U.S. Inflation

In May 2022, the annual rate of U.S. inflation grew to 8.6%—the highest it’s been in four decades, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What’s driving this surge, and what products are seeing the most significant price jumps?

This visualization by Pablo Alvarez shows U.S. inflation levels since 1982 and highlights a few product categories that have seen the biggest year-over-year increases.

The Category Breakdown

Perhaps unsurprisingly, energy sources have seen the biggest year-over-year climb. Gasoline has seen one of the biggest spikes, up 48.7% since May 2021.

Item	% yearly change (May 2022)
Gasoline (all types)	48.7%
Energy	34.6%
Natural Gas	30.2%
Electricity	12.0%
Food	10.1%
All items	8.6%
Apparel	5.0%

Across the U.S., the average price of gas sat at $4.807 per gallon as of July 4, and experts predict this figure could grow to $6 per gallon by the end of the summer.

While fuel prices were on the upswing prior to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, due to loosening COVID-19 restrictions and increased demand for travel, the conflict sent oil prices skyrocketing. This is because many countries placed sanctions on Russian oil, which put a squeeze on global supply.

Food has also seen a massive cost spike, up 10.1% since May 2021. This is largely due to supply-chain issues, increased transportation costs, and fertilizer shortages.

The Spending Spree Continues

Despite rising prices, many consumers have been continuing to spend. In May 2022, personal consumption expenditures (which account for inflation) were up 0.5% compared to the month prior, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Rather than adjust their spending habits, Americans have been relying on their savings to cope with price hikes. A recent survey of over 2,000 Americans showed that 67% of respondents have used some of their savings to deal with price increases, and 23% have made a substantial dent in their nest eggs.

To help combat inflation, central banks have been raising interest rates to encourage savings and ultimately slow down spending. But this is a delicate dance—if rates are raised too fast and spending screeches to a halt, this could lead to a recession.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Public Opinion

Ranked: U.S. Presidents’ Approval Ratings After 100 Days (1953-Today)

Trump’s approval rating first-quarter approval of 44% marks one of the weakest starts to a presidential term in modern history.

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2025

Kayla Zhu

How Does Trump’s Approval Rating Compare to Past Presidents?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Donald Trump is kicking off his second term with relatively low public support, showing little sign of the typical post-election boost.

This graphic visualizes the approval ratings of recent U.S. presidents in their first 100 days in office.

Approval ratings are based on the latest April Gallup poll of presidential approval starting on or before April 29th of each year. Ratings for Lyndon B. Johnson and Gerald Ford were not available.

Both of Trump’s first and second terms are visualized because there was a break between them, unlike other presidents who served one or two consecutive terms.

Trump’s Second Term is Off to a Cold Start

Below, we show the approval ratings of recent U.S. presidents in their first 100 days in office.

Year	President	100-Day Approval Rating (%)
1961	Kennedy	81
1953	Eisenhower	74
1981	Reagan	67
2009	Obama	63
1977	Carter	64
2001	G.W. Bush	61
1969	Nixon	62
1989	G.H.W. Bush	58
2021	Biden	57
1993	Clinton	55
2025	Trump (2nd term)	44
2017	Trump (1st term)	40

Donald Trump began his second term with an approval rating of 47% in January, dipping to 44% by April—marking one of the weakest starts to a presidential term in modern history.

This is only slightly higher than the 40% approval rating he held during the first 100 days of his first term, the lowest ever recorded for a newly elected modern U.S. president.

By contrast, most of Trump’s predecessors benefited from a “honeymoon period,” with early approval ratings well above 50%.

The average first-quarter approval rating for presidents elected between 1952 and 2020 is 60%, according to Gallup, with John F. Kennedy leading the pack at 81%.

According to Gallup, a majority of Americans said they have either “only a little” (11%) or almost no (44%) confidence in the president to do the right thing for the economy.

The U.S. economy stumbled out of the gate in the beginning of Trump’s second term, with GDP projected to shrink by 0.3% in Q1 2025—the first quarterly decline since early 2022.

The U.S. stock market has also seen major volatility amid tariff announcements and rollbacks, falling 21% from its peak in February.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about approval ratings of various world leaders, check out this graphic that visualizes the approval ratings of leaders in 24 major countries around the world based on January data.