US jumps into top 25 countries on ‘Misery Index’

The U.S. has jumped into the top 25 countries on the annual Bloomberg Misery Index, which looks at unemployment and inflation numbers to forecast how miserable the citizens of 60 different nations are.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that the U.S. went from the No. 50 slot to No. 25 on the index as the coronavirus pandemic has devastated the American economy.

Iceland, Israel and Panama are the only other countries “even close to that level of deterioration in the annual rankings,” according to Bloomberg. 

But nearly every nation in the index is expected to face a more miserable situation this year, as the pandemic has affected employment worldwide, Bloomberg noted. 

Bloomberg determines each country’s scores by using surveys of economists’ predictions for 2020 price growth and joblessness and comparing their answers to last year. The surveys are as of July 27.

The U.S.’s rise on the misery index comes as President Trump is seeking reelection in November, trying to make the case that he is the best person to help the millions of Americans who have been left unemployed. 

Some 1.2 million new people applied for unemployment last week, according to statistics reported Thursday, falling from 1.4 million the past two weeks.

The top four most miserable economies remained the same as last year: Venezuela, Argentina, South Africa and Turkey. Thailand was again named the least miserable economy, followed by Switzerland, Singapore and Japan.