The High Cost of Living: Respite and Upsurge, 1915 to Early 1917

The years 1915 and early 1916 enjoyed relative calm concerning the cost of living, though concern, by now well established, lingered. The US economy was recovering from a recession that ended about December 1914 and 1915s harvests were good. The wholesale price index (July 1913–June 1914 = 100) rose from 99 in July 1914 to 106 in December 1915, then sharply higher to 118 by June 1916, but consumer prices were relatively unaffected at first because the biggest increases came in commodities needed for war production. Consumer prices rose at most 2 percent between December 1914 and December 1915. They added a further 14 to 16 percent by December 1916, but mainly in the second half of the year. Retail food prices increased earlier, however. By June 1916, the BLS index of retail food prices (1913 = 100) had risen to 112. Returning prosperity and the distractions of war news initially muted concern.