A flurry of tepid economic data could lead Fed to delay hike

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factory output fell, consumers cut back at retailers and wholesale prices went nowhere in August, the latest evidence of a less-than-robust economy.

Overall industrial production — which combines manufacturing, mines and utilities — dropped by an identical amount.

In reporting its closely watched measure of retail spending, the Commerce Department said that retail sales fell in August for the first time in five months.

Noting the slide in retail sales, Barclays Research downgraded its forecast for U.S. economic growth from July through September to an annual rate of 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent earlier.

Healthy hiring and sluggish growth can be a worrisome combination suggesting that companies need more workers to generate the same amount of product.

[...] American workers' productivity — output per hour of work — has fallen for three straight quarters for the first time since 1979.