September 2018‘s reading of 46.4 marks the first time since September 2016 that the current conditions component dipped below 50. With the exception of a one-month blip in June, the current conditions measure has been generally trending down since February of this year. Although fully half of the panel reported unchanged conditions, the share of those noting worse conditions increased by 10 percentage points from August’s results. Comments were mixed, with one mentioning transportation bottlenecks as a limiting factor. 

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