THE 40th ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PRICE INDEX

 

PNC Bank has released it’s 40th annual Christmas Price Index®.
 
Fellow tax blogger Kelly Phillips Erb explains -
 
“The PNC CPI is a light-hearted take on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI, which measures the change in prices consumers could expect to pay for True Love's gifts, outlined in the classic holiday carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." It’s calculated using a method similar to the government's consumer price index (CPI). The PNC CPI edged up 2.7%, noticeably lower than last year's hefty 10.5% increase and slightly less than the CPI topline, which is at 3.2% year over year.”
 
It all started 40 years ago as a way to engage clients of PNC’s predecessor, Provident National Bank in Philadelphia, during the traditionally light holiday weeks. What hatched as the creative brainchild of the bank’s then-chief economist has since grown into one of PNC’s most popular and anticipated economic reports.

Here is a comparison of the 2023 and 2022 Christmas Price Index -
 

As you see, the biggest jump in price is the two turtle doves.  The turtle doves are rare and experienced this year's largest percentage increase at an eye-popping 25% due to limited supply.
 
Once again, the most expensive item on the list is the 10 lords a leaping – a 4% increase from last year.  Continued proof that leaping lords have a much better union than musicians (although the musicians did get a higher raise – 6%).
 
TTFN