Check out Wyatt's Torch post that I linked in yesterday's Market WrapUp. It shows that productivity gains were caused by people working fewer hours. The French think the world works better by working fewer hours, but not any conservative economists.
Also,did Nokia drive the market down over 300 points?
In the first quarter, hours worked in the nonfarm businesses fell by nearly 2%. Consider the durable goods manufacturing sector, which had an eye-popping 13.3% jump in first quarter productivity. The single largest factor in that number, however, was a 7.3% decline in hours worked. For comparisons sake, bear in mind that during the so-called "productivity revolution" of the latter half of the 1990s, strong gains in both output and hours worked were the norm.