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Bradley Holcomb, chairman of the ISM's survey committee, said that survey respondents weren't worried about a possible shutdown last month, but would likely begin to raise concerns if it lasted for long. Most economists say that a shutdown of a just a few days would have little economic impact. But if dragged on for two weeks, it could shave about 0.3 percentage points from fourth-quarter growth. Factories had been hampered by weak growth overseas that lowered demand for U.S. goods. But exports grew last month, though at a slower pace than August. Europe's economy is slowly recovering after an 18-month recession and Japan is also growing faster after two decades of stagnation. Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve said manufacturers boosted their output in August by the most in eight years. The gains were driven by a robust month at auto plants. Still, other data has been mixed. Companies placed only slightly more orders for long-lasting manufactured goods in August after a sharp fall in July. But demand for so-called core capital goods rose 1.5 percent, after falling 3.3 percent the previous month. Core capital goods are a good measure of businesses' confidence in the economy and include items that point to expansion, such as machinery and computers.
[Associated
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