The nation’s economic misery index for last month reached the highest level in 21 years.

Main opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hoi-jae said on Monday that the index, which measures the sum of the unemployment and inflation rates, reached eight-point-four in May.

Kim released the assessment after analyzing data from Statistics Korea.

Created by economist Arthur Okun, the misery index gauges how the average citizen is doing economically.

May’s index was the highest since May 2001 when the figure stood at nine.

May saw such a high figure after consumer prices posted the sharpest growth in nearly 14 years.

Consumer prices are rising sharply this year due in part to a surge in the prices of raw materials as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine affects global production and supply.