One little anecdote from within the vast US economy…

I received this note from my trash and recyclables collector this morning:

“The reason for this raise being larger than normal for us is primarily due to unforeseen increases in our costs, including this past September receiving the largest increase in over 5 years to both our single stream processing fees and trash disposal fees.”

So despite the gas price cost savings in this fuel intensive business, other costs have have come out of left field from elsewhere in the economic food chain.

I wonder how my old industry (manufacturing) is faring in this regard.  Even as I left the industry the definitions of what was considered toxic waste had been historically strict, regulations were as tight as a drum and the related costs were significant.  I wonder if this is a progressive situation.

I have been out for 2.5 years now. Maybe it is time to check in and start asking questions.

While inflation has been going on non-stop for years, situations like the above, where wage and cost pressures start to bubble up are what most people (including conventional economists) consider to be inflation. 

This link from BLS was kindly sent by a reader:  US city average, water and sewer trash collection services.