So Begins the Summer of Recovery Part Deaux :(
How Miserable? Index Says the Worst in 28 Years
When it comes to measuring the combination of unemployment and inflation, it doesn’t get much more miserable than this.
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The index, first compiled during the soaring inflation days of the 1970s by economist Arthur Okun, is registering a nausea-inducing 12.7—9.1 percent for unemployment and 3.6 percent for annualized inflation—a number not seen since 1983. The index has been above 10 since November 2009 and had been under double-digits from June 1993 through May 2008.
The good news, of course, is that the Fed-led Paul Volcker embarked on a highly successful inflation-slaying campaign that brought the level of misery down sharply through the rest of the ’80s recovery decade.