As Heavy-Truck Sales Go, So Goes the Economy

For most people, the economy’s ups and downs are best measured by famous indicators like monthly job reports and quarterly releases ofgross domestic product. But students of the arcane took special notice earlier this month when the Bureau of Economic Analysis released some disturbing data that didn’t make anybody’s front page. In August, domestic heavy-truck sales fell 29 percent from the same period of 2015, the weakest month in well over three years.