(MENAFN) US nonfarm productivity has sharply dropped at its fastest pace in the first quarter of the current year on bad winter weather, causing higher labor-related production costs, according to Oman Observer. The drop in productivity is temporary and Federal Reserve officials are expected to shrug off the spike in labor costs. Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina, said: "Weather impacts are temporary, and as such, we should see productivity growth rebound substantially in the second quarter as economic growth strengthens." The Labor Department reported that productivity dropped at a 1.7 percent annual rate, the biggest drop since the first quarter of 2013.