Feeling Miserable?

The Misery Index was developed by Arthur Okun, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960's.


It is simply the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate.

It is assumed that both a higher rate of unemployment and a worsening of inflation both create economic and social costs for the US. A combination of rising inflation and more people out of work implies a deterioration in economic performance and a rise in the misery index.

During the Presidential campaign of 1976, Jimmy Carter made frequent reference to the Misery Index, which by the summer of 1976 was at 13.6%. Carter stated that no man responsible for giving a country a misery index that high had a right to even ask to be President.

Carter won the 1976 election. However, by 1980, when President Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan, the Misery Index had reached a high of 22%. Carter lost the election to Reagan.

In February, 2009 the Misery Index stood at 8.3% That's mostly on account of unemployment, as inflation is virtually non-existent.