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Is it Wednesday already? Let's hear it for a short workweek. But is Wall Street already working for the weekend? Let's dig into today's news and find out what's cooking.

U.S. productivity on the rise
American workers' productivity per hour has risen at a 2.2% annual rate, according to a report from Bloomberg.com, beating economist estimates of 1.8%. Further, expenses per worker rose at a 1.5% rate -- which was less than economists had estimated. This news follows an Associated Press report yesterday stating that home prices were on the rise, as well, signaling a positive couple of days for key economic metrics.

International markets unsteady as world waits for European bank plan
On Thursday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is expected to announce a plan to deal with the eurozone's debt crisis, and the world markets have had an unstable trading day today in advance of the plan's unveiling. Furthermore, a Reuters report states that the Purchasing Managers' Index has signaled a fall back into recession for the eurozone, even in economic stalwart Germany -- certainly not welcome news for the 17-country union.

Nokia, Motorola ahead of the game?
Ahead of Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL ) iPhone 5 debut, competitors Nokia (NYSE: NOK ) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG ) -owned Motorola Mobility are staging debuts of their own new products, The Associated Press reports. Nokia is widely expected to announce new products under the umbrella of its Lumia brand this morning; Motorola Mobility is poised to announce an unknown product at an event this afternoon.

Stay tuned to Fool.com for the latest news throughout the day!

Hope Nelson-Pope is managing news editor at The Motley Fool. She owns shares of Apple, but none of the other stocks mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a bull call spread position in Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

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