A leading indicator for the health of the economy is the amount of cardboard used: when the economy is roaring along, demand for boxes is huge in this age of Amazon. If this leading indicator is to be believed, though, we may be in for some belt-tightening. This article shows that demand for boxes is way down.
Another indicator is the value of the US dollar. While that varies depending on what it's being compared to, in many cases the value of the grenback has been declining since September. Here's the US dollar vs. the Euro.
