PITTSBURGH — On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…you know the rest.
PNC Wealth Management has once again calculated what the price of each gift in the Christmas classic, "The Twelve Days of Christmas," would be in today's economy.
A 31-year holiday tradition, PNC's 2014 Christmas Price Index reveals a hefty price tag if one were to purchase all of the gifts in the song for his or her "true love." The total cost would come in at $27,673.22, a $280.05 increase over last year's CPI.
Eight of the 12 gifts remained the same price as last year, according to PNC. The Six Geese-A-Laying and the Partridge, minus the Pear Tree, were not among them, going up 71.4 percent and 33.3 percent respectively.
The following is an excerpt from a PNC news release:
Much like the government's Consumer Price Index, the PNC CPI also measures a Core Index – up 1.4 percent this year - that excludes the Swans, which tend to be the most volatile in the index. This year, however, the Swans remained steady at $7,000, which is also the same price they cost in 1984, the first year of the index.
Other Key Components Include:
- Same As Before: Two Turtle Doves, Four Calling Birds, Five Gold Rings, Seven Swans-a-Swimming, Eight Maids-A-Milking, Nine Ladies Dancing, 11 Pipers Piping and 12 Drummers Drumming held steady at last year's prices.
- That's Entertainment!: True Loves can splurge on entertainment this year. Of all the gifts in the entertainment category, only the 10 Lords-a-Leaping saw any increase, and by just a meager 2 percent. Nine Ladies Dancing, 11 Pipers Piping and 12 Drummers Drumming stayed on par with their costs in 2013.
- Pear Tree: Housing and fresh fruit prices have been up recently, so the Pear Tree saw a 2 percent increase, driving the cost of the Partridge in a Pear Tree up 3.8 percent from last year.
- Maids-a-Milking: As the only unskilled laborers in the PNC CPI, the price for the eight Maids-a-Milking is represented by the minimum wage. With the Federal minimum wage flat at $7.25 per hour, hiring the maids this year will not increase labor costs.
The PNC CPI's sources include retailers, the National Aviary in Pittsburgh and the Philadelphia-based PHILADANCO and the Pennsylvania Ballet Company.
Cyber Prices: The Cost of Convenience
For those True Loves who prefer the convenience of shopping online, PNC Wealth Management calculates the cost of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" gifts purchased on the Internet.
This year, the trends identified in the traditional index are not repeated in the Internet version. True Loves will pay a grand total of $42,959.07 to buy the items online, a surprising increase of 8 percent from last year, $15,285 more than buying "in person."
So, how much has the cost of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" gifts gone up since the CPI was launched in 1984? 118 percent.
Another component of PNC Wealth Management's annual tradition is the tabulation of 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.
Brace yourself.
The cost for all 364 gifts would come in at $116,273.08.
For more information on the 2014 PNC CPI, click HERE.