UK’s next PM faces a rise in economic misery

British opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks to the media next to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves as he visits Morrisons supermarket during a Labour general election campaign event in Wiltshire, Britain, June 19, 2024. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

LONDON: The United Kingdom’s next government will confront a fresh increase in economic misery levels in its first months in office as voters feel the pinch from rising unemployment.

Having retreated in recent months thanks to cooling inflation, the Misery Index – created in the 1970s to capture the combined impact of unemployment and inflation – is set to worsen again over the next 18 months in the United Kingdom.