NEW YORK, Oct. 15-- The U.S. dollar fell against other major currencies Wednesday as weak U.S. economic data showed the upward growth momentum of U.S. economy may not last as long as expected, lowering market expectations for the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates by the middle of next year.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was down 0.80 percent to 85.133 in late trading.

U.S. Labor Department said Wednesday that the U.S. Producer Price Index for final demand fell 0.1 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis. The decline of U.S. wholesale prices was the first in more than a year and missed analysts' expectations of a 0.1-percent increase.

Analysts said the current inflation rate has been below Fed officials' 2-percent target and would possibly delay the interest rates hike expected in mid-2015.

U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the U.S. retail and food services sales for September decreased 0.3 percent, bigger than the market consensus.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Wednesday that the Empire State general business conditions index slipped 21 points to 6.2, signaling that the pace of growth slowed significantly from September.

In late New York trading, the euro increased to 1.2778 dollars from 1.2645 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to 1.5929 dollars from 1.5906 dollars. The Australian dollar edged up to 0.8771 dollar from 0.8709 dollar.

The dollar bought 106.01 Japanese yen, lower than 106.99 yen of the previous session. The dollar edged down to 0.9439 Swiss francs from 0.9546 Swiss francs, and it fell to 1.1286 Canadian dollars from 1.1293 Canadian dollars.