If there are millions of illegals providing cheap labor why have prices continued to soar?

Just Contractors having their cake and eating it too. It’s all a fugazi

Inflation affects the costs of everything including labor. As you also stated there is also material costs, administrative costs, insurance costs, transportation, legal costs, tools, repairs, energy costs, overhead,etc.

All the contractors think they need to make medical doctor salary!

And Mexican restaurants have one waiter with one cook.

That can’t be right.

It's obvious that you have never ran a home service type business before (which is understandable)

My family ran a home service type business (let's say HVAC - it wasn't but I don't want to say what field)

Our rent went up every single year - It didn't just go up a few bucks/month - it went up a shitload of bucks each month

We used a lot of electricity because we produced material in house and our Electric bill was through the roof and went up considerably higher every single month for the past 3 years we were in the business

We had 11 field trucks - the insurance on those things went up almost every single month - I think our fuel bill was around $2,200/week by the time we got out of the business. I remember I looked at our bill from a few years ago and it was around $1,400/week

We used a lot of water because we produced material in house and it went up every single month for the past 4 years we were in the business

Here is the thing that absolutely killed us - WORKMAN'S COMP INSURANCE. We had a few accidents with employees who were working out in the field and we were considered a HIGH RISK business. Basically any business that installs electrical, plumbing, HVAC, Roofing, Glass, Windows, Painting, etc etc etc is considered High Risk

Since we had a few injuries on the job from dumb frick employees not wearing their safety gear or just being stupid on a jobsite, our Workman's Comp was insanely expensive every month

Not to mention, our Internet Business class went up a shite ton... Our phone system went up substantially - I am not talking about a few dollars - I am talking substantially

I think our Phone and Internet was with COX and when we first signed on with them for a 2 year agreement, it was I think around $900/month or something like that. After our 2 year agreement ended, they jacked the price up times three. I think when we left, our bill was around $2,200/month.

We also offered all of our employees insurance with dental - this was insanely expensive to offer our employees. Sure, we could have canceled it but the moment we would have done that, all of our employees would have just jumped shipped and found another job that offered full benefits

Then after our contract with Verzon ended for our business cellphones, that went through the roof

Here's just another example. We went through a shitload of paper - At the time, we were paying I think around $18/ream - by the time we left, reams of paper were around $40 - sure, that doesn't seem like a lot (and it's not) but when there are hundreds of other things that had massive price increases - it all adds up very quickly every month.

So the point of my story is - Prices can come down on raw materials all day long but until all of the other bullshite that it takes to run a home service / manufacturing business comes down, we are not going to see any cheaper prices anytime soon - Sorry, but Trump can't fix all of that. That's when companies need to adjust their multipliers or profit margins

However, I am very confident though that prices will come down with all of the other bullshite... we just aren't there yet. Eventually we will get there. I honestly don't think we will really see the results until 2026

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Just Contractors having their cake and eating it too.

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Becoming a contractor has one of the lowest barriers of entry of any business. So go get after it and you too can have cake and eat it too.




To answer OP, inflation has raised the cost of living. People, even Mexicans, still need to make ends meet. Not many people out there are going to go to work a day's wage for $200 when basic bills are $201.

The labor isn’t all that cheap and it’s unskilled.

I’ve had people learning on the job in nearly every home building trade. You pay the full rate, so you are paying for someone’s job training with the job.

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If there are millions of illegals providing cheap labor why have prices continued to soar?

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Because I reject your premise that illegal labor lowers prices, and know that inflation is caused by the 8T that Trump printed 2017-2021 and the 8T that Biden printed 2021-2025 and the BBB that they are shoving up my azz.

Sounds like you need someone better to handle your expenses. I know things have gone up but not on the same factor as listed.

You might need to shop around for some better values on internet, phones, and office supplies. You may need to threaten to cancel or switch providers to get the best rates.

Insurance, fuel, and rent are the main uncontrollables in a budget unless you want to move or take a bigger risk by lowering deductibles or altering coverage.

Office supplies can be easily purchased online from Amazon or Walmart with free delivery.

Not to crap on some local office supply companies, but some think every one runs on government contract pricing and can pay what ever they want to charge for items like paper and pens with a huge markup and add a delivery fee on top of that. Then they send the bill to purchasing and who pays it without question since it is on government contract terms.

Most of the illegal labor for construction isn’t cheaper but they are willing to work longer hours in bad conditions. The contractors are saving money by not paying worker’s compensation on them and pocketing that money. The illegals aren’t necessarily better workers but they are motivated to bust arse because they are earning 10x the amount they would earn in their own country. If you want to pay me $4k a day, I’d be motivated too