Cincinnati Enquirer: Introducing the UC/Enquirer Price Index
Marketing professor James Kellaris selected 30 items to track local inflation
A newly created tracker of notable local items indicates price stability for Cincinnati shoppers, even as overall U.S. inflation increases.
The new UC/Enquirer Price Index, a joint project between the Carl H. Lindner College of Business and The Cincinnati Enquirer, revealed that the combined cost of 30 items was $240.59 for the third quarter — 0.1% more expensive than six months ago. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, overall U.S. inflation rose 1.5% over the same period.
James Kellaris, PhD, James S. Womack / Gemini Corporation Professor of Signage and Visual Marketing.
The items were selected by James Kellaris, PhD, James S. Womack / Gemini Corporation Professor of Signage and Visual Marketing.
“Life is good in Cincinnati,” Kellaris told The Enquirer. “Prices are amazingly stable.”
For example, the index reported that a pint of Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip costs the same ($7.29) as it did earlier this year, despite U.S. ice cream prices increasing by 2.2%. The same was true for LaRosa’s Italian dressing ($4.49), even as the cost of U.S. condiments climbed by 1.1%.
Processed meats deviated from local savings. Though U.S. sausage prices fell by 4.5% over the measured period, the prices of Queen City Sausage (7.5%) and Glier’s Goetta signature roll (6.7%) increased.
Kellaris and The Enquirer plan to update the UC/Enquirer Price Index each quarter.
Read more from The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Featured image courtesy of Adobe stock.
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