Although Mason was given no chance by political experts and had a total budget of $70,000, he collected a surprising 32 percent of the vote.

Worker productivity, which rose a surprising 4 percent in the first quarter of the year, is rising.

President Bush smiled when he learned this week that economic growth during the third quarter reached a surprising 2.7 percent, almost twice the previous rate.

The nation's trade deficit narrowed a surprising 35 percent in June, to $5.07 billion, its lowest level in seven years.

Prices at the producer level rose a surprising 0.4 percent in January, driven by higher food costs.

A surprising 25 percent of investors said they did better than expected: 19 percent exceeded their target by 1 to 5 percentage point.

A full 49 percent were undecided, and a surprising 8 percent said they would support a new party, the Democrats.

Law enforcement officials say the number of reported crimes rose a surprising 28 percent last year.

But a surprising 96 percent knew that a criminal defendant who is found not guilty can still be sued in a civil trial.