misery index

American  

noun

1. an unofficial indication of a nation's economic health, derived by adding the percentage rate of inflation to the percentage of unemployed workers.

   With inflation running at 15 percent and unemployment at 8 percent, the misery index is 23 percent.

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Etymology

Origin of misery index

First recorded in 1975–80

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

misery index

Extreme weather, heat, and floods are driving up the world’s misery index; Threads is taking social media by storm; and we got fast cars.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2023

And as I noted even then, the misery index seemed to be declining.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2023

And the deaths are only part of the pandemic misery index.

From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2022

But his personal misery index reached a new plateau during a weekend of record-setting heat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2021

Yet, somehow, this city’s teams keep finding ways to take the misery index to new heights.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 10, 2019

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