THE NORTH POLE—Not surprisingly, the cost of the 12 days worth of gifts purchased by the True Love has risen in 2023, but at nowhere near the increase seen just a year ago. PNC reported that purchasing all 364 gifts crossed the $200,000 threshold for the first time, settling in at $201,972.66, or 2.5% more than last year.
With inflation having dominated the news throughout much of this year, the annual PNC measure of the costs of the items in the carol “The 12 Days of Christmas,” which it calls its Christmas Price Index and which is being released for the 40th time this year, has risen 2.7% this holiday season. That’s down from the 10.5% increase seen in 2022.
Overall, the 12 gifts that compose the PNC CPI increased to $46,729.86 this year.
191% Increase
"We crunched the numbers and found that since the PNC CPI launched, the BLS CPI has increased 191%, while the PNC CPI increased 133%,” said Amanda Agati, chief investment officer for PNC's Asset Management Group. “The methodology differences are obviously going to give distinct results, but the overall inflation trends have remained remarkably consistent over the years.”
According to PNC, there were no price increases this year for five of the gifts of the Index, including the Four Calling Birds, Five Gold Rings, Seven Swans-A-Swimming, Eight Maids-A-Milking and Nine Ladies Dancing.
Although the Partridge cost was unchanged, there was a 15% jump for the Pear Tree — a proxy for housing costs that continue to move higher despite the highest mortgage rates since 2000.
Paying for Performance
While True Loves benefit from little to no increases in goods on their shopping list, rising wages for skilled labor, represented by the performers, make a bigger dent in their holiday budget this year, PNC said.
“Although the cost of Nine Ladies Dancing did not increase, Ten Lords-a-Leaping jumped to new heights, Eleven Pipers Piping rose to a higher pitch and the 12 Drummers Drumming drummed up a higher sum,” PNC said. “In aggregate, prices for performers increased 3.3% this year, substantially lower than last year's 14.6% surge.”
The Specifics
Among the specific findings, according to PNC:
- Price of E-Commerce Convenience: Using technology does not add up to savings this year. Buying all 12 gifts online costs 4.8% more than in 2022 for a price tag of $52,024.03.
- Experiences and Services Outpace Goods: During the last 40 years, the PNC CPI has evolved alongside changes in U.S. GDP as the economy has shifted from a manufacturing focus to one led by services. In 1984, PNC CPI goods composed 70% of the index, and today it is 37%. Forty years ago, services composed 30%, and in 2023, they are 63%, an almost complete reversal.
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Core Index Rises: PNC CPI's Core Index, which excludes the Seven Swans-a-Swimming, crept up 3.7%. “Swans typically represent the most volatile price among items in the Index. However, their price remains flat again this year,” PNC said. “
“That might be a positive sign for investors who have been bracing for investment in ‘black swan’ events or fear finding coal in their stockings as recession concerns linger.” - Turtle Doves Soar to New Heights: “These exotic doves are rare, and due to limited supply, experienced this year's largest percentage increase at an eye-popping 25%,” PNC said.
An interactive look at the PNC Christmas Price Index can be found here.
Forget Those Calling Birds–The Best Gift to Unwrap This Holiday Season Is…
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