Inflationtastic

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just put out the September Producer Price Index data. "The Producer Price Index (PPI) program measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output." The BLS also puts out the Consumer Price Index, which is the "monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services." However since I only have PPI data available in excel format, that's the one I looked at. (It's easier to parse than a pdf)

The first thing I noticed is that wheat has become a lot more expensive across all the categories:

Hard red spring wheat - up 218% over last year
Soft white wheat - up 204% over last year
Hard amber durum wheat - up 181% over last year

The list goes on and on, but I have no idea what the different types of wheat actually are. Has anyone noticed bread getting a lot more expensive?

Potatoes have also been hit especially hard:

Round white potatoes - up 241%
Round red potatoes - up 218%
Russet potatoes - up 135%

Food items seem to be the hardest hit across the board:

Tomatoes - up 167%
Celery - up 165%
Green peppers - up 139%
Cauliflower - up 136%

Other random stuff has increased significantly as well:

Iron and steel scrap - up 111%
Crude petroleum (domestic production) - up 106%
Fertilizer materials - up 95%
Sulfuric acid - up 50%

There are also just some bizarre stuff on the list:

Small arms ammunition - up 34%
Prefab metal buildings - up 32%
Slaughter ducks - up 32%
Reproduction of audio disks and video media - up 3%
Candles - up 8%
Fire extinguishers - up 25%
Burial caskets - up 5%
Blood and blood derivatives for human use - up 6%

Some things have also plummeted in price:
Dry onions - down 80%
Celery - down 78%
Lettuce - down 54%
Crabs - down 50%

Make of this what you will. I have no commentary to share, I'm just throwing some numbers out there...