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12 days of Christmas cost

November 29, 2011 by · Comments Off on 12 days of Christmas cost 

12 days of Christmas cost12 days of Christmas cost, The cost of being someone’s true love passed $100,000 for the first time this year, according to PNC’s annual Christmas Price Index, an economic analysis based on the gifts described in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

The price tag for the 364 items gifted by someone who repeats all the song’s verses is $101,119.84, a 4.4 increase over last year.

Just one set of the items mentioned in the verses — a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings, six geese-a-laying, seven swans-a-swimming, eight maids-a-milking, nine ladies dancing, 10 lords-a-leaping, 11 pipers piping and 12 drummers drumming — costs $24,263.18, an increase of $823.80 over last year.

The 3.5 percent increase in the Christmas Price Index is close to the federal government’s Consumer Price Index, which grew 3.9 percent over the past 12 months, proving that inflation affects even true love.

“In general, it mirrors and reflects general trends in the economy,” said James Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC Wealth Management. This is the 28th year the financial services group has compiled the Christmas Price Index.

One trend the PNC index reflects is that the federal minimum wage has not increased since last year. At $7.25 an hour, hiring the eight maids-a-milking costs $58, the same price as 2010.

Three other items on the Christmas list — the three French hens at $150, nine dancing ladies at $6,294.03 and the 10 lords-a-leaping at $4,766.70 — also maintained the same cost as last year.

The price tag for five gold rings fell by 0.8 percent this year to $645, reflecting that while gold commodity prices are hovering around record highs, the demand for retail gold is falling.

The price to hire 11 pipers piping ($2,427.60) and 12 drummers drumming ($2,629.90) increased by 3 percent for each.

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