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Cincinnati Enquirer: Introducing the UC/Enquirer Price Index

Marketing professor James Kellaris selected 30 items to track local inflation

headshot of Grant Freking By Grant Freking
2 minute read September 26, 2023

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

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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