Gifts that are part of "The 12 Days of Christmas" rose by only 0.6 percent this year, implying that the U.S. economy is in a steady but slow rise.
If you buy all the gifts on the list of the famous Christmas carol, you will need $34,130.99, only $198 more expensive from last year's prices, and in-line with the government's Consumer Price Index, according to the 32nd annual PNC Christmas Price Index issued Monday, reported USA Today.
This means that if someone would want to buy all 12 gifts, multiplied by the number of times they were mentioned in the song, then one would need a total of $155,407.18.
Breaking it down, nine out of the 12 gifts did not change its value from last year. The three items that actually did increase in price are the partridge in a pear tree (now $214.99 from $207.45), the pair of turtle doves (now $290 from $256.65), and 10 lords-a-leaping (now $5,508.70 from $5,343.45), the Miami Herald reported.
"The headline, I think, is that inflation in this economy, with the sort of tepid recovery we've seen, is almost nonexistent," said Jim Dunigan, chief investment officer of PNC's asset management group, according to the Associated Press.
The almost unchanged cost for the 12 gifts implies that consumer goods are not rising too much. However, it also means that the demand for the goods is down, and can partly be due to wage stagnation, AP added.
