[South Africa protests] * A COUNTRY'S UNEMPLOYMENT AND INFLATION RATES ARE STRONG INDICATORS OF HOW ITS ECONOMY IS DOING. * GREECE AND SPAIN ARE AMONG THE MOST MISERABLE COUNTRIES IN EUROPE BY THIS ECONOMIC MEASURE, THE "MISERY INDEX." * THESE ARE THE 27 MOST "MISERABLE" COUNTRIES — PLACES WHERE THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE COMBINED WITH THE INFLATION RATE IS ABOVE 15%. ------------------------- It's hard to get by when you don't have a job and the cost of living keeps rising. This is the maxim behind economist Arthur Okun's "Misery Index," which adds together a country's unemployment and inflation rates. The higher the number, the more "miserable" your country. There has been criticism of the index. Extensive studies have shown that unemployment influences happiness (or, rather, unhappiness) significantly more than inflation. Still, few would argue that both unemployment and inflation are bad when they are very high. In light of that, Business Insider compiled a list of the 27 most miserable countries based on 2017 data available at the CIA World Factbook. Some countries struggle with both high unemployment and inflation, while others have one rate asymmetrically higher than the other. Some countries are absent from the list because data was either unavailable or outdated. Venezuela and South Sudan — for instance — are both going through periods of massive inflation but the CIA World Factbook does not provide a rate for either country. _Elena Holodny contributed to a previous version of this story._ SEE ALSO: EVERY US STATE ECONOMY RANKED FROM WORST TO BEST DON'T MISS: THE 11 COLLEGE MAJORS WITH THE HIGHEST UNEMPLOYMENT RATES 27. JAMAICA MISERY-INDEX SCORE: 15.6 CPI inflation: 3.4% Unemployment: 12.2% 26. TUNISIA MISERY-INDEX SCORE: 17.5 CPI inflation: 4.5% Unemployment: 13.0% 25. ERITREA MISERY-INDEX SCORE: 17.6 CPI inflation: 9.0% Unemployment: 8.6% See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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