The PNC Christmas Price Index increased by a lavish 8.1 percent over last year, the second biggest leap in the history of the whimsical economic analysis based on the cost of gifts in the holiday classic, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
According to the 24th annual survey, the cost of the PNC CPI is $21,080 in 2008, $1,573 more than last year. The PNC CPI exceeds the U.S. government’s Consumer Price Index – the widely used measure of inflation calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
The seven swans a-swimming proved to be a driver of this year’s index, carrying the greatest weight with a whopping 33.3 percent increase due to their scarcity. True Loves will spend $5,600 this year for Swans compared with $4,200 in 2007, accounting for $1,400 of the $1,573 increase.
High Prices Are for the Birds
Large percentage increases were also seen in turtle doves (37.5 percent, to $56 from $40); partridges (33.3 percent, to $20.00 from $15.00) and pear trees (33.3 percent, to $199.99 from $149.99), according to PNC.
There is good news, however.
True Loves will pay less for the five gold rings this year. Retail prices dropped by 11.4 percent (to $349.95 from $395) as retailers are trying to move luxury merchandise in light of concerns with the slowing economy, PNC found.
Two other costs in the CPI dropped this year: three French hens and Six geese-a-laying. This year the hens cost $30, a drop of 33.3 percent over last year, and the geese cost $240, falling one-third. Four calling birds remained steady, costing $599.96, the same as a year ago.
Another Pay Raise for the Milkmaids
As the only unskilled laborers in the Christmas Price Index, the eight maids a-milking received a raise for the second straight year, due to another increase in the federal minimum wage. Before 2007, they had not received a raise since 1997.
The federal minimum wage increased this year to $6.55 per hour, following last year’s $5.85. In the last two years, the maids a-milking have seen their wages rise by $1.40 per hour, an increase of 27 percent. Still, the maids will cost the True Love $52.40 this year, only $5.60 more than a year ago, a relative bargain in the PNC CPI.
The cost of most performers in the index—the drummers drumming, pipers piping and Llrds-a-leaping—jumped a modest 3 percent, essentially a cost-of-living increase, reflecting the current labor market in which the unemployment rate rose to 6.5 percent after sitting below 5 percent for much of the decade. Only the price for the Ladies Dancing was unchanged this year.
Cyber Prices: The Cost of Convenience
This year, the trends identified in the traditional index are repeated in the Internet version, with an overall price growth of 2.8 percent, significantly less than the traditional PNC CPI increase of 8.1 percent.
True Loves will pay a grand total of $31,957 to buy the items online, almost $11,000 more than in the traditional index.
Seven of the 12 items in the Internet index stayed even with 2007.
The Internet price of swans a-swimming was unchanged this year, but they still cost significantly more to buy online at $7,035.
In general, Internet prices are higher than their non-Internet counterparts because of shipping costs for birds and the convenience factor of shopping online.
2008: Most Expensive Christmas Ever
As part of its annual tradition, PNC Wealth Management also tabulates the “True Cost of Christmas,” which is the total cost of items gifted by a True Love who repeats all of the song’s verses. This holiday season, very generous True Loves will pay more than ever before—$86,609—for all 364 items, up from $78,100 in 2007, a staggering 10.9 percent increase.
Source: The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc
October 4th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Recently, I began noticing how upset/angry/annoyed/frustrated I was becoming when I witnessed food wastage.
A couple of things sparked it enough that my attention was ‘in the moment’ rather than ‘after the fact’:
I was helping my brother with some house cleaning, when his work hours increased, and I was unemployed. I was struggling to find money to put food on the table, literally, and here I was helping him by cleaning his kitchen (dishes, etc), and witnessed copious amounts of foods literally being wasted.
The food was perfectly fine – but his habits of storage and his attitude to ‘left-overs’ was resulting in perfectly good food going to waste because it was left out on the benchtop, or not stored properly in the fridge.
I was sickened, because I knew I couldn’t afford to do that and would never do that anyway.
I was going without proper meals during my unemployed stage, while I was witness to his ill-educated and sadly ignorant attitude about the impact of food wastage.
It lead me to be more aware of the impact of wastage, and going through the supermarket and greengrocer brought the impact home even further.
Without doubt there needs to be a much stronger and more enforceable means to severely restrict, reduce, and re-educate people about, the dreadful cost of food wastage across the globe.
From cost of agriculture, and increasing environmental impact, to increasing costs of foods, and even the effects on health.
I want to start or be part of a very decisive action group that brings this entire issue to the forefront.
I would like Australia to be the leader in Food Management.
Let me know where I can participate, where I can find resources and do research to make this a potent educational subject and truly bring this subject up to the plate, so that the very thought of food waste becomes “unpalatable”.
Thanks
Terri