Consumer Demand Points Barclays to U.S. Economic Recovery

American consumers are a more telling indicator of the economy’s prospects than industrial companies, according to Jonathan Glionna, Barclays Plc’s chief U.S. equity strategist. New orders for consumer goods and materials matched or beat year-earlier levels during the last three months of 2015 as industrial production moved lower, as the chart shows. Glionna cited the two indicators Monday in a report. “Consumer-oriented data suggest the economy is holding up,” he wrote, adding that stock investors would be better off anticipating a recovery than a recession.