Productivity Data Sends Markets LowerProductivity Data Sends Markets Lower

Data that showed U.S. workers worked harder and cost more in the first quarter pushed down stock prices Thursday as investors continue to fear that higher interest rates may be coming. An April jobs report that will add even more clarity to the economic picture comes Friday.

The information 100 index fell 3.85 points, or 1.2%, to close at 309.99. The Nasdaq-100 tracking stock fell 27 cents, or 0.8%, to $35.26. The Dow Jones industrials fell 69.69 points to 10,241.26, a decline of 0.7%. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 7.57 points, or 0.7%, to close at 1,113.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 19.52 points, or 1%, to 1,937.74.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the productivity of nonfarm workers rose at a 3.5% annual rate during the first quarter, which matched Wall Street's expectations. The measure of output per worker per hour was slower than the 4.4% increase recorded during all of last year, but still extremely high compared with the past 50 years. At the same time, labor costs increased by half a percentage point during the quarter, their first increase in a year.

Investors are worried that the signs of an economic recovery will prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates soon, which will increase the costs of borrowing for businesses. On Friday, the government reports on April payrolls.