GOLD BUGS BAFFLED:

US productivity grows 3.6% in first quarter (Associated Press, May 6, 2010)

The Labor Department said Thursday that productivity grew at an annual rate of 3.6 percent in the first quarter. That was better than the 2.5 percent increase economists had expected.

Unit labor costs dropped at an annual rate of 1.6 percent, a bigger decline than the 0.7 percent forecast. It marked the third straight quarterly decline, underscoring how much a severe recession has dampened wage pressures.