By Carl Laron on December 4, 2009 in
Higher costs for gold, unskilled labor and French hens has helped push up the cost of Christmas by a modest 1.8 percent this year. So says the 2009 PNC Christmas Price Index. Calculated annually by PNC Wealth Management, the Christmas Price Index measures how much all of the gifts in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" would cost. For 2009, the price of the gifts mentioned in the last verse totals $21,465.56 -- a little over $385 more than last year, and the smallest increase since 2002, when the index actually fell. In case you're feeling especially generous, the cost of buying all the gifts in all the verses is $87,402.81, an bump of just under 1 percent over last year.
An increase in the minimum wage has driven up the cost of maids-a-milking, while higher gold prices are why golden rings cost substantially more. On the other hand, Poultry prices are mixed: French hens and turtle doves are up; partridges, swans and geese are down; and calling birds are unchanged. Among performing artists, dancing ladies are earning more, but leaping lords, drumming drummers and piping pipers all saw no increase in salary.
Finally, if you're determined to impress your true loves, your best bet is to go shopping in person. Going online to buy all the gifts in all the verses will set you back a whopping $127,643.08. That figure is down by about 2.7 percent compared to last year, but it's still nearly $40,000 higher than if you were to buy the same gifts in the "traditional" manner. Shipping costs -- especially the price of transporting all of those birds -- are one reason why according to James Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC Wealth Management.