U.S. Misery Index

Source: Gibran Nicholas

The U.S. Misery Index "was initiated by economist Arthur Okun, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s. 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 a country. A combination of rising inflation and more people out of work implies a deterioration in economic performance and a rise in the misery index."

For example, in August 2009, the U.S. Misery Index was 8.22:

Misery Index (8.22) = Unemployment rate (9.7) + Inflation rate (-1.48)

For the sake of comparison, here are the annual misery index values from 1948-2008:

1948 11.49 Truman
1949 5.10
1950 6.30
1951 11.16
1952 5.32
1953 3.74 Eisenhower.....(The lowest annual value.)
1954 5.91
1955 4.09
1956 5.64
1957 7.64
1958 9.57
1959 6.46
1960 7.00
1961 7.76 Kennedy
1962 6.77
1963 6.88 Johnson
1964 6.44
1965 6.10
1966 6.80
1967 6.62
1968 7.83
1969 8.95 Nixon
1970 10.82
1971 10.25
1972 8.87
1973 11.02
1974 16.67 Ford
1975 17.68
1976 13.45
1977 13.55 Carter
1978 13.69
1979 17.07
1980 20.76 ..... (The highest annual value.)
1981 17.97 Reagan
1982 15.87
1983 12.82
1984 11.81
1985 10.74
1986 8.91
1987 9.84
1988 9.57
1989 10.09 Bush, G.H.W.
1990 11.01
1991 11.10
1992 10.52
1993 9.87 Clinton
1994 8.71
1995 8.40
1996 8.34
1997 7.28
1998 6.05
1999 6.41
2000 7.35
2001 7.59 Bush, G.W.
2002 7.37
2003 8.26
2004 8.21
2005 8.48
2006 7.87
2007 7.46
2008 9.61