• The US is set to suffer the biggest jump in economic misery this year of any country being monitored by Bloomberg as inflation slows and unemployment spikes.
  • The country dropped to No. 25 from No. 50 in Bloomberg’s Misery Index, which measures 60 economies around the world.
  • Thailand, Singapore, and Japan ranked as the year’s least miserable economies, while Venezuela, Argentina, and South Africa ranked the lowest on the list and showed the most misery.
  • Israel, Iceland, and Panama were the only countries to post drops even close to the US’s, according to Bloomberg.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The US is projected to undergo the biggest increase in economic misery across 60 countries as the nation grapples with heightened unemployment and fresh coronavirus hot spots.

Bloomberg’s Misery Index, which ranks major economies by inflation and unemployment expectations, shows the country sinking to No. 25 from No. 50 in 2020. Venezuela, Argentina, and South Africa held their spots as the world’s most miserable economies.

Thailand, Singapore, and Japan registered as the least miserable nations on the list, with Singapore and Japan jumping ahead of Switzerland.

Read more: Tom Marsico’s growth fund has crushed its benchmark for 13 years – and returned 28 times its peers in 2020. Here’s what he’s been buying, and the beaten-down stocks he plans to grab after the pandemic.

The US was hit by both plunging inflation expectations and spiking joblessness. Economists expect near-term inflation to slide below 1% in the US as a drop in consumer spending drives steady disinflation. The nation's unemployment rate spiked as high as 13.4% in the second quarter from a pre-pandemic reading of 3.5%, ranking among the worst labor-market tumbles around the world.

Israel, Iceland, and Panama were the only countries on the list to suffer a drop close to that seen in the US, according to Bloomberg. Of the world's largest economies, China and Japan declined the least, while the eurozone and the UK both experienced big jumps in joblessness and drops in inflation.

Luxembourg's economy improved the most from 2019 to 2020 by leaping to No. 47 from No. 30.

Not all index improvements equate to economic happiness, according to Bloomberg. Some higher rankings were fueled by demand hits that pushed inflation expectations into negative territory. The four least miserable economies of 2020 all expect deflation to hit in the near future. Such a trend would most likely harm borrowers and worsen an already steep recession.

Read more: Harding Loevner's global stock fund has trounced the market for over 30 years. Here's an inside look at the simple 4-part stock-picking criteria that helped the firm balloon to $72 billion.