How Pricey Is Valentine's Day This Year?

What does high inflation, currently clouding today's economic outlook, mean for Valentine's Day in 2022? That's the question that LPL Financial Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick reviewed in a note on Monday. As the firm does every year, "LPL Research takes a look at changing prices from the perspective of some popular ways to celebrate the day with our annual Valentine's Day Index," he wrote. While inflation is indeed affecting prices for some items often bought by sweethearts on this special day, there are some sectors where higher prices is not having a significant impact on Feb. 14, according to Detrick: Energy commodities were up 49% in 2021, and used cars and trucks rose 37% last year, he points out. Other areas that had double-digit inflation in 2021 "that you can avoid on Valentine's Day," LPL says are in these areas: living room, kitchen and dining room furniture (+17%), washing machines (+12%), men's suits (+11%), and new cars (+12%). Scroll through the above slides for details and updates on LPL's latest Valentine's Day Index.