In 2016, percentage increase in the price index in the whimsical economic analysis by PNC Wealth Management based on the prices of gifts in the holiday classic, "The Twelve Days of Christmas": 0.7
According to this year's survey, current price tag for all 78 gifts (i.e., 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a-leaping, etc.), up just $232 over last year's total: $34,363
Cost to a very thoughtful true love to buy the whole shebang from each day and verse -- 364 separate pieces of Christmas joy (i.e., one gift on the first day of Christmas, three gifts on day two, six gifts on day three, etc.) : $156,507.88
Source: PNC Wealth Management.
When asked what their go-to gift was for someone they didn't know particularly well or someone that they hadn't planned to give a gift originally, percentage of respondents who said gift cards, according to a survey by Consumer Reports: 29
Percentage who cited wine/other alcohol: 16
Percentage who said chocolates/desserts/candy: 15
Source: Consumer Reports.
Average amount that companies giving gifts plan to spend for employees, according to Advertising Specialty Institute: $45
Average amount companies plan to spend thanking clients: $49
Ranks of cash bonuses, gift cards, food and beverages, and apparel on the list of leading employee gifts: 1, 2, 3, 4
Source: Advertising Specialty Institute.
Percentage of executives who said they look forward to Christmas celebrations, according to an executive survey by Korn/Ferry International: 56
Percentage who said they attend them when they can: 38
Percentage who said they generally do not attend or have little interest: 6
Source: Korn/Ferry International.
Year that Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, placed a Christmas tree in the White House for the first time, according to PolitiFact.com and the National Christmas Tree Association: 1856
Year that President Calvin Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn: 1923
Year that the National Christmas Tree was not lit until Dec. 22, because of a national 30-day period of mourning following the assassination of President Kennedy: 1963
Year that the National Christmas Tree Association began giving a Christmas tree to the president and first family for display in the Blue Room: 1966
Source: University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners.
Percentage of drivers who make phone calls while driving through a parking lot, according to a National Safety Council poll: 66
Percentage who text: 56
Percentage who program their GPS: 63
On average, estimated number of crashes that occur in parking lots and parking garages annually, resulting in 500 or more deaths and more than 60,000 injuries: 50,000
Source: National Safety Council.
Percentage of Americans planning to travel between Thanksgiving and New Year's in 2016, according to a survey by Orbitz Worldwide: 72
Average price for a Christmas airfare: $435
Average daily hotel costs for the 10 busiest locations: $180
Source: Orbitz Worldwide.
Percentage of women who say they or another female is primarily responsible for their household's holiday shopping, according to a survey conducted on behalf of CreditCards.com: 68
Percentage of men who believe that a woman is in charge of holiday shopping: 30
Percentage of women who say a female does most of their household's shopping for clothes and shoes (just 23 percent of men agree): 73
Source: creditcards.com.
Percentage of American workers who don't plan to give gifts to their co-workers, according to a survey by Spherion: 56
Percentage who don't plan to give a gift to their boss: 59
Source: Spherion.
Estimated percentage of homes that still put up and decorate a real Christmas tree each year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 20
Estimated percentage of U.S. households that now use artificial trees to decorate for the holidays: 50
Value of artificial Christmas trees imported into the U.S. from China during the first nine months of last year: $80 million
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Idle Thought
"Remember, when the judgment's weak, the prejudice is strong." -- Kane O'Hara, composer and playwright
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)