Wall Street Journal Prime History
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Key Historic Observations
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1990 Peak: The rate started the decade at a peak of 10.00% in January 1990, followed by a steady decline through the early 1990s.
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The Great Recession Lows: The rate plummeted to its historic low of 3.25% on December 16, 2008, following the financial crisis. It remained at this level for seven years, a period often referred to as the "zero-bound" or "zero-interest-rate policy" era.
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COVID-19 Crisis: The rate returned to 3.25% in March 2020 to mitigate the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, holding there until March 2022.
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Recent Upswing: Starting in 2022, the Federal Reserve began aggressively raising rates to combat high inflation. This led to a sharp increase in the Prime Rate, which reached $8.50\%$ by July 2023 before beginning a gradual decline.