Perhaps The Most Reliable Economic Indicator:  Empty Boxes
Each year during the first quarter the Fibre Box Association queries big users of cardboard boxes to ascertain use levels.
Virtually any product has to be shipped and the cardboard box is the most typical carrier.  The more boxes ordered and used, the more products have manufactured and shipped to consumers.
This is just one indicator.  Another is Alcoa, the giant aluminum producer which just now released its earnings, in keeping with its tradition of being the first to report each quarter.  One set of figures stood out:  "Global aluminum is expected to double between 2010 and 2020;  so far this decade, global demand growth is tracking ahead of this projection."  If this prediction proves true, with aluminum used in just about everything including engines, the economy could prosper.  Alcoa, down 0.87% in regular trading today,  is presently up 1.63% in late trading.