The partridge is a deal, and so is the pear tree, for the generous giver who wants to bestow the gifts listed in the song The 12 Days of Christmas on a beloved this season. But despite a tattered economy, the memorable mix of leaping lords, milking maids and a slew of fowl will cost slightly more this year.
At $21,465.56, the collection of goods and services is about 1.8 percent more expensive than a year ago, largely because of higher gold prices, PNC Wealth Management in Pennsylvania said.
The group has compiled the list for 26 years as a catchy way to track the annual cost of living. The Web site, pncchristmaspriceindex.com, now includes sample lesson plans, games, music and other media to help students learn about economic trends.
Gold rose almost 43 percent this year, lifting the price of the carol’s five gold rings to about US$500, PNC said. Gold rings are one of five items on the whimsical gift list that rose in price. Four other items remained steady, and three fell from last year — bringing the total for the carol’s gifts to US$385.36 more than last year.
“Our index reflects a dramatic drop in energy, fuel and shipping costs,” said James Dunigan, PNC’s managing executive of investments. “But gold, turtledoves, French hens and higher wages for maids and dancing ladies brought the index up.”
Repeated purchases of the gifts, as the song suggests, would raise the cost to US$87,402.81, up 0.9 percent over last year’s tally of US$86,608.51. This was the smallest increase since 2002, when the PNC index decreased slightly because of the economic downturn at the time.
The one item that skews PNC’s index is the seven swans a-swimming. The cost of a flock, or wedge, of trumpeter swans declined this year by 6.3 percent, to US$5,250. That contrasted with last year when swan scarcity sent the cost up 33 percent from 2007.
Other birds plummeted in price this year, with the partridge down 50 percent, to US$10, from last year, according to prices PNC gathered from the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. The six geese-a-laying dropped 37.5 percent, to US$150, but the four calling birds stayed the same as last year, at US$600. The only birds on the list to increase in price were the two turtledoves, which rose less than 2 percent, to nearly US$56, and the three French hens, which surged 50 percent, to US$45, because they are imported.
Even the famous pear tree slid in price this year, down 25 percent, to US$150, as fewer landscapers were ordering such trees to adorn new homes.
Wage pressures tapped down the cost of labor, Dunigan said. But there were two exceptions.
The eight milking maids received an automatic minimum wage increase, to US$7.25 an hour. Even so, they totaled a mere US$58, up US$5.60 from last year. The eight ladies dancing fared far better, with a 15 percent raise, to US$5,473 for each performance based on figures from the Philadelphia modern dance company, Philadanco.
But other performers were not as fortunate, reflecting a jobless rate that doubled this year after hovering around 5 percent for much of the decade, Dunigan said. Pay was flat for the 12 drummers drumming, at US$2,475, 11 pipers piping, at US$2,284, and 10 lords-a-leaping, at US$4,414.
The fastest and easiest way to assemble the carol’s 79 items is by shopping online, but that adds to the final tab. True Love, named as the giver in the song, would have to shell out US$31,434.85 for the Internet purchases, largely because of shipping costs.
For those who still have a lot of spare cash and a yen for the memorable, the total tab for all 364 of the carol’s items, as repeated in choruses, would be US$127,643 online, compared with the US$87,403 otherwise.
Has anyone ever put the PNC index’s findings to the test?
“Not that we know of,” Dunigan said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese