The U.S. economy appears poised for recovery and Canada’s economy is in a holding pattern, which is better than the free fall of earlier this year. The good-news indicators are tentative and fragile, but they are encouraging nonetheless. In the U.S., there are two key measures that look at how consumers are feeling and what is happening in manufacturing. Yardsticks for both have been climbing of late. In Canada, jobless benefit claims have fallen and commodity price increases point to more capital spending.