Gifts for ‘true love’ a bargain this year
Upside to a steady-but-slow-rising economy: The cost of buying your true love all the gifts from The Twelve Days of Christmas rose just 0.6%.
The combined cost for the dozen gifts featured in the final verse of the famed Christmas carol totals $34,130.99 in 2015, up $198 from last year’s price tag and in line with the government’s Consumer Price Index, according to the 32nd annual PNC Christmas Price Index.
The outcome, reflecting a steep drop in energy costs, low inflation and the rate of the nation’s economic growth, marks the whimsical index’s lowest growth rate in six years. Nine of the 12 gifts maintained their respective costs this year.
Mirroring the government’s core CPI, which excludes energy and food prices, PNC excluded the seven swans a-swimming — typically the most volatile cost. With the swans out, the core gift index rose 1%, similar to the 1.9% government CPI in- crease, PNC said. The roundup also showed:
uThe cost of five gold rings stayed at $750, the same as the past two years, despite a drop in gold commodity prices.
uThe $7,553 price tag for nine ladies dancing, the $2,635 cost for 11 pipers piping and the $2,855 outlay for 12 drummers drumming were on par with the past two years. However, the cost of 10 lords a-leaping jumped 3%, to $5,508.70.
uThe pear tree rose 1.2%, perhaps reflecting the upward trend in housing costs.
uThe cost of the eight maids a-milking, the index’s only unskilled workers, held steady for the sixth consecutive year, reflecting the federal minimum wage, unchanged since 2009.