Halloween Treats Win over Inflation

October 27, 2022

Nationwide, the price of candy was upabout 13% in September compared with a year earlier, according to figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Datasembly, a research firm that tracks consumer prices, found one of the sharpest increases among grocery items in the candy aisle.

While there’s no data on Halloween costumes in particular, the cost for apparel and clothing rose 2.2% between September 2021 and last month, according to federal statistics. That includes a 5.5% jump over the summer.

Americans are expected to spend $3.6 billion on costumes, $3.4 billion on decorations, $3.1 billion on candy and $600 million on greeting cards for Halloween this year, the trade group said in a recent survey.

Enough people “want to get away from the gloom” of the pandemic that they may be willing to grit their teeth and pay up, said James W. Hughes, dean emeritus of Rutgers’ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. “It looks like this is sort of a post-pandemic expression of wanting to get back to normal,” Hughes said in a phone interview. 

northjersey.com, October 27, 2022

Recent Posts

Video: Will We See an End to NJ’s Party Line?

David Cruz talks with Julia Sass Rubin (Bloustein School, Rutgers) about Rep. Andy Kim's party line lawsuit, being an expert witness in the case & history impact of the line.Reporters Colleen O’Dea (NJ Spotlight News), P. Kenneth Burns (WHYY) & Sean Sullivan...

NJSPL – New Jersey’s 2025 Tax Revenue Projections

How New Jersey’s 2025 Tax Revenue Projections Might Affect the Budget Surplus Is the Budget Surplus Safe? Governor Murphy’s recently released FY 2025 budget proposal calls for total appropriations of $55.9 billion, up $1.5 billion (2.7%) from the original FY 2024...

Dean Shapiro: A hidden way politics shapes regulation

Regulations issued by executive branch agencies often get criticized by regulatory opponents as being made by “unelected bureaucrats,” divorced from political pressures and the messiness of democracy. Partly because of that sentiment, the Supreme Court appears poised...

VTC’s Leigh Ann Von Hagen Named Sustainability Hero

Sustainable Jersey named Leigh Ann Von Hagen a 2024 Sustainability Hero. Leigh Ann is a managing director and adjunct professor with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center and a founder of the Planning Healthy Communities Initiative at the Edward J. Bloustein...

NJSPL – Marc Pfeiffer On Fixing the Open Public Records Act

by Marc Pfeiffer for the New Jersey State Policy Lab OPRA, the state’s Open Public Records Act is showing its age. Now 22 years old, this important public policy suffers, in part, from age, neglect, unintended consequences, and unexpected use cases. Over the years, it...

Upcoming Events

PhD Colloquium: Turning a Dissertation into a Book

Bloustein School, Civic Square Building 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, United States

Presented by Hiba Bou Akar, Associate Professor in the Urban Planning program at Columbia GSAPP. Her research focuses on planning in conflict and post-conflict cities, the question of urban security […]

Event Series CAREERS

Career Virtual Drop-ins

Virtual

Bloustein Career Development Specialists Cheryl Egan and Andrea Garrido will be in a Zoom Room on Monday's beginning January 22, 2024 (excluding holidays and spring break) to answer questions, provide […]