Inflation is not really rising prices. Inflation is increase in money supply. Inflation (dilution/adulteration) of money causes rising prices. Therefore let us look at money., One of the better is M3, but no longer reported. We can look at M2 (M1, a measure of the money supply; includes currency in circulation plus demand deposits or checking account balances), M2= measure of the money supply; M1 plus net time deposits (other than large certificates of deposit).
Here at Economagic:
http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/frbH6/t0102
Year-----M2 annual % change
2012----9765------6.6
2007----7104------5.4
2002----5454------7.3
1997----3829------2.5
1992----3383------6.7
1987----2447------6.7
1982----1770------8.7
1977----1165-----10.2
1972----718-------8.3
1967----482-------7.4
1962----340----------
1962 to 2012 average per year: 6.95% compounded
So the last five years are near the 50 year average.
To
REALLY keep up with inflation one should earn 28.7 times as much as in 1962 (9765 divided by 340). Gold has kept up OK.
Parenthetically- Doctor Friedman was calling for rates of adulteration of 3 to 5 percent for a stable price level (The inflation [funny munny] would be soaked up by rises in productivity of around 4%). The actual rate of adulteration (6.95%) is almost 3 percent more than mrs. friedman called for. We got no stable price level. I wonder if there are
any rises in productivity since the seventies.