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Seattle has America's least 'miserable' economy
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle), July 22, 2010
by Jeff Clabaugh Washington, D.C. Business Journal
Seattle residents can claim the least miserable economy in the nation, according to one straightforward measure: the misery index, which combines inflation with unemployment.
The misery index in the Seattle area currently stands as the lowest in the nation, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg news organization.
Year-over-year inflation in Seattle is pegged at a negative 0.5 percent. The unemployment rate of 6 percent gives Seattle a misery index of just 5.5 percent.
Washington D.C. has a misery rate of 9.35 percent for second place. Dallas and Houston both have relatively low misery indexes, at 9.5 and 9.55 percent respectively.
Los Angeles and Detroit have the highest misery indexes among big cities, at 12.28 percent and 13.87 percent.
The misery index was developed in the 1960s by an economic adviser in President Johnson's administration as a way to measure economic performance, according to the website miseryindex.us.
