Factory-output data show economy still in doldrums

Factory production in August dropped by another 0.5 percent, the Federal Reserve Board said, confirming that ''the economic recovery was not in progress, '' especially in the auto industry.

Factory production accounts for about a third of the value of all of the nation's goods and services, and its shrinkage usually means further cuts in factory employment have occurred. If production figures are still decreasing, the Commerce Department said, then the economic upturn hasn't yet arrived.