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Wall Street wobbles ahead of new retail sales data and public appearances by Fed officials

SUMMARY:

  • Wall Street sees minimal movement before key Fed comments and report
  • U.S.-China agree to a 90-day trade pause, easing market tensions slightly
  • cooled for a third straight month, impacting rate cut expectations
  • slashes forecast, citing overstock and trade uncertainty

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are wavering on Wall Street and holding on to most of the gains they made earlier in the week after the U.S. and China declared a temporary cease-fire in their .

The was mostly unchanged Wednesday afternoon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 86 points, or 0.2% as of 1:04 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq rose 0.6%.

The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 lost ground, but several big technology stocks helped counter the losses. Super Micro Computer surged 17.2% after signing a partnership agreement with Saudi Arabian data center company DataVolt. Advanced Micro Devices jumped 5.5% after announcing a $6 billion stock buyback program.

Other big gainers included eToro Group, a retail trading platform for stocks and cryptocurrency. It rose 30% in its first day of trading.

The market has been relatively steady since its surge on Monday, which came after the U.S. and China entered a 90-day pause in their trade war. The market gained some more ground on Tuesday after the government reported that inflation unexpectedly cooled across the country in April. Additional updates on inflation and retail sales are expected on Thursday.

The benchmark S&P 500 index, which sits at the center many 401(k) accounts has erased all its losses since escalated his global trade war in early April. It has now erased its losses for the year and is back to within 4.2% of its all-time high set in February.

“The ‘s rally has legs, as the trade negotiation with China was seemingly the toughest one on the docket,” said Rick Gardner, chief investment officer at RGA Investments.

Trump has delayed a large swath of his most severe against America’s trading partners, but some import taxes remain in place. Uncertainty over the path ahead continues to hang over businesses and consumers. The on-again-off-again nature of Trump’s trade policy has left companies unable to plan ahead and consumers nervous about spending.

Businesses continue to trim or withdraw their financial forecasts as they face unpredictable trade policy and cautious consumers.

American Eagle fell 4.6% after the retailer withdrew its financial outlook for the year citing “macro uncertainty.” General Motors, UPS, Kraft Heinz and JetBlue are among the many companies representing a wide range of industries that have warned about the impact of tariffs and a weakening .

More than 90% of companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings for their latest quarter. The majority of companies have reported better-than-expected earnings, but forecasts for earnings growth during the current quarter have been broadly cut in half for companies in the index.

The economy has already showed signs of slowing. It shrank 0.3% during the first quarter amid a surge of imports as businesses and consumers tried to stock up amid tariffs and policy uncertainty.

Inflation remains a big concern. The latest data on consumer prices released Tuesday showed that tariffs haven’t had much impact yet. But that could change as the impact of current tariffs make their way through supply chains and delayed tariffs potentially go into effect. Inflation has cooled to just above the ‘s target of 2%, but the threat of higher prices on goods because of import taxes has heightened worries about inflation heating up.

The U.S. on Thursday will release its April report for inflation at the wholesale level, which is what companies are paying for goods. Economists expect an easing of inflation there.

The latest update Thursday for retail sales is expected to reflect a sharp drop to 0.2% in April from 1.4% the previous month.

Retail giant Walmart will also report its latest financial results on Thursday and its financial forecasts will be closely watched.

In the bond market, Treasury yields edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.52% from 4.47% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely with expectations for Fed action, rose to 4.05% from 4.00% late Tuesday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Asia and were mixed in Europe.

Vaughan-Bassett sees strong domestic demand despite China tariff easing

Monday’s announcement that China and the U.S. would significantly ease levies as they attempt to ratchet down trade tensions that have roiled global markets may have been a light at the end of the tunnel for some in the industry, but one U.S. case goods manufacturer sees lingering questions that remain to be answered about downsides in other major sourcing regions.

Doug Bassett, president of -based Furniture, said the recent developments and the ongoing uncertainty around trade are having a positive impact on the company’s business because it lacks much direct exposure to China in their .

“We’re primarily a bedroom company, and very little bedroom comes out of China,” Bassett told Furniture Today following the announcement. “Only about 5% of the bedroom imports to the United States come from China. Fifty-five percent come from Vietnam, and another 12% come from Malaysia.”

Bassett likened the development to a similar move from the administration roughly a month ago. “This is not unlike what was announced with the 90-day extension and the time for negotiation and the reduction in the tariff during that period,” he observed.

At the recent High Point Market, Bassett said uncertainty around  led many buyers to lean on the company as a source of stability amid a chaotic business environment. “There’s so much uncertainty, there’s so much risk, and our attendance was through the roof,” he said. “Many dealers indicated to us they wanted to reduce their exposure and reduce their risk by carrying more of our American-made product.”

“I don’t think this announcement with China [Monday] changes much,” he continued. “There’s still great uncertainty surrounding where the tariffs are going to end up — with China, with Vietnam, with Malaysia and so on, so until actual agreements are reached, there’s significant risk and uncertainty to all import programs.”

As for Vaughan-Bassett’s own exposure to China, Bassett said it’s limited. “We have very little exposure to China,” he said. “We have a handful of components, primarily our hardware, and I believe our drawer guides are sourced in China. So those are the two main components that we’re keeping an eye on.”

He added that the company prepared in advance of the original tariff hikes.

“I know that my brother and our purchasing guys loaded up with components prior to the original tariffs being announced so that we would have some cushion,” Bassett explained.  “That’s a minor calculation for us in the grand scheme of things. We’re much more focused on the opportunity presented by the threat of high tariffs on all these exporters to the United States.”

Family of Boeing whistleblower settles lawsuit with aircraft maker over his death

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The family of a former Boeing quality control manager who killed himself after lawyers questioned him about his whistleblowing on alleged jumbo jet defects has settled a lawsuit against the aircraft maker.

Details of the settlement over John Barnett’s death were not disclosed in a court filing Monday.

Barnett, a longtime employee, shared his safety concerns with journalists after he retired in 2017. He said he once saw discarded metal shavings near wiring for the flight controls that could have cut the wiring and caused a catastrophe. He also noted problems with up to a quarter of the oxygen systems on Boeing’s 787 planes.

Barnett shared his concerns with his supervisors and others before leaving Boeing, but according to the lawsuit they responded by ignoring him and then harassing him.

Barnett, 62, shot himself on March 9, 2024, in Charleston after answering questions from attorneys for several days. He lived in Louisiana.

The document announcing the settlement and closing the case in federal court in South Carolina was one page and the only detail was that either side can reopen the lawsuit if the settlement is not finalized in 60 days.

Boeing did not answer the lawsuit in court papers before the settlement.

“We are saddened by John Barnett’s death and extend our condolences to his family. Boeing took actions several years ago to review and address the issues that Mr. Barnett raised,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. The national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.

Virginia could lose 32,000 jobs in 2025, U.Va. estimates

SUMMARY:

  • Virginia is projected to lose up to 32,000 in 2025
  • Employment of one in eight Virginians tied to federal government
  • expected to reach highest level since 2021
  • Key sectors affected include admin services, tourism, and

Virginia is expected to lose up to 32,000 jobs in 2025, according to a quarterly forecast from the University of Virginia’s for Public Service.

The commonwealth’s unemployment rate could rise to its highest level since 2021 in coming months, according to the forecasters at Weldon Cooper, which provides nonpartisan research and data analysis, among other services.

The state’s monthly unemployment rate is expected to average 3.9% this year and rise to an average rate of 4.7% in 2026, Virginia’s highest unemployment rate since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown caused massive temporary and closures.

These estimates “could change,” Eric Scorsone, the center’s executive director, said during a Monday media roundtable. “That could get worse, potentially, depending on how things evolve.”

Scorsone noted that many of the center’s unemployment projections are related to and government spending cuts, which hit Virginia harder than most other states. Nearly one in eight Virginians either work for the federal government or have jobs connected to federal contracts. The forecast says the state will likely see a net loss of more than 9,000 government jobs this year.

“The state is highly dependent on the [federal] sector, and the sector is declining right now,” he said. “And so that’s going to be, I think, an important story going forward for Virginia.”

Since returned to the White House, more than 100,000 federal employees have been fired or put on leave as part of a measure to cut federal spending. A CNN tracker puts the number of federal workers laid off or targeted for layoffs at 121,361 as of April 28.

The Trump administration has also cut federal contracts to curb federal spending, which is anticipated to result in layoffs among some government contractors. In April, Goldschmitt and Associates, a Sterling-based business management firm, announced plans to lay off 217 employees, citing a reduction in a federal contract as the reason for its layoffs, and federal not-for-profit contractor Mitre, with dual headquarters in McLean and Massachusetts, announced in April it plans to cut 442 jobs in McLean by June 3.

Hamilton Lombard, estimates program manager for Weldon Cooper’s demographics research group, pointed out Monday that in nine of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts, a larger share of the population is employed by the federal government than the national average. It’s incorrect to think that only and Hampton Roads will be impacted by federal cuts, he said.  “That influence has spread further out, particularly the last few years, with more federal workers being remote.”

It’s difficult to quantify the federal job losses, Scorsone explained, because some federal workers took deferred resignations, meaning they’ve quit working but will be paid through September, under a Trump policy announced this year. Court cases involving the federal layoffs are still pending as well.

“So, we may see a lot more [layoffs] down the road, over the next, say, six months,” he said.

Statewide job losses are expected to deepen in the second half of the year and extend into early 2026. Recovery is expected to begin in late 2026, with a net gain of about 17,000 jobs in 2026, or 0.4% growth, the forecast says.

Weldon Cooper’s forecast notes that nationwide employment grew by 228,000 jobs in January and February, but Virginia saw a net loss of nearly 8,000 jobs in those months.

“Virginia is losing jobs while the rest of the country is creating jobs,” Scorsone said. “That has a lot of negative implications. People might decide to leave Virginia to look for jobs elsewhere. There might be some form of brain drain.”

In addition to layoffs by the federal government and , Virginia has seen significant business closures and layoffs in other sectors, including Georgia-Pacific’s announcement that it would close its Emporia mill, cutting more than 550 manufacturing jobs, and this week’s WARN notice from Saddle Creek Logistics Service that it expects to lay off 54 employees in in July.

According to the Weldon Cooper forecast, Virginia’s administrative services sector is expected to lose more than 5,000 jobs, while the state’s manufacturing industry is expected to shrink by 4,500 jobs. In the hospitality and tourism sector, the state could lose 7,740 hotel and food services jobs, and 6,486 arts, entertainment and recreation jobs.

However, there was a bit of good news: the state’s economy is expected to post 0.4% growth in its GDP this year due to higher productivity, Scorsone said.

“We do expect economic production to remain in slightly positive territory for the moment, although I want to emphasize the impact of the federal cuts is still coming,” he said.

UnitedHealth Group CEO steps down as company lowers, then withdraws financial outlook for 2025

SUMMARY:

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty is stepping down for personal reasons and the nation’s largest health insurer suspended its full-year financial outlook due to higher-than-expected medical costs.

Chairman Stephen Hemsley will become CEO, effective immediately, the Minnesota company said.

Hemsley was UnitedHealth Group CEO from 2006 to 2017. He will remain chairman of the company’s board. Witty will serve as a senior adviser to Hemsley.

It has been a punishing period for UnitedHealth, starting in December when executive Brian Thompson was targeted outside of a New York City hotel and killed. While unrelated to the financial operations of the $340 billion healthcare giant, its shares have tumbled severely since the attack.

“I’m deeply disappointed in and apologize for the performance setbacks we have encountered from both external and internal challenges,” Hemsley said during an early Tuesday conference call. “Many of the issues standing in the way of achieving our goals as well as our opportunities are largely within our control. I am optimistic about our future as these issues are within our capacity to resolve. We will approach them with humility, rigor and urgency.”

The 60 year-old Witty joined the company in 2018 after serving about nine years as CEO of the British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline. He was named UnitedHealth’s CEO in February 2021, replacing Dave Wichmann.

UnitedHealth became one of the nation’s largest companies under Witty’s leadership. Total revenue topped $400 billion last year, a 55% increase from the $257 billion UnitedHealth brought in the year before Witty became CEO.

Shares of UnitedHealth rocketed higher under Witty, too, up 60.5% since he took the company’s top job.

Yet there have been several setbacks for UnitedHealth over the past five months as it wrestles with the national attention on Luigi Mangione, who was indicted last month on a federal murder charge in the killing of Thompson.

The case has captured the American imagination, setting off a cascade of resentment and online vitriol toward U.S. health insurers while rattling corporate executives concerned about security.

UnitedHealth cut its 2025 forecast last month following its first quarterly earnings miss in more than a decade. On Tuesday the company withdrew that financial forecast entirely, saying that medical costs from new members were higher than expected.

Shares of UnitedHealth, which have plummeted 38% since the deadly Dec. 4 ambush of Thompson in midtown Manhattan, fell more than 16% Tuesday to levels last seen almost five years ago.

Other big insurers tumbled as well, with Elevance, Humana and Cigna falling between 4% and 7%.

More than 50 million people have health under UnitedHealth Group Inc. It also has a large pharmacy benefit manager that runs prescription drug coverage and a growing Optum segment that delivers care and provides technical support.

UnitedHealthcare is the nation’s largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, with more than 8 million customers. Those are privately run versions of the federal government coverage program mostly for people ages 65 and older.

Wall Street climbs following a slowdown in inflation as the S&P 500 erases its loss for 2025

SUMMARY:

  • U.S. inflation slowed to 2.3% in April, easing economic fears
  • AI and tech like Nvidia and Palantir surged in value
  • Coinbase stock jumped 23% after joining the index

NEW YORK (AP) — Most U.S. stocks are rising Tuesday following an encouraging report that showed inflation unexpectedly slowed across the country last month.

The S&P 500 was up 0.9% in afternoon trading, coming off a big gain to start the week after the United States and China announced a 90-day pause in their trade war to allow for negotiations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 193 points, or 0.5%, as of 12:40 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.7% higher as AI and other tech stocks led the way.

Stocks have been roaring back since the S&P 500 fell nearly 20% below its record last month on hopes that will ease his stiff tariffs on trading partners worldwide before they create a recession and send inflation spiking higher. The S&P 500, which sits at the center of many 401(k) accounts, is back within 4% of its all-time high set in February and has erased its losses for the year so far.

Tuesday’s report said that even with all the uncertainty around trade, and even with many businesses rushing to import products from other countries before tariffs raise their prices, inflation slowed to 2.3% last month from 2.4% in March.

It’s encouraging because such data pulls the economy further from a worst-case scenario called “stagflation,” one where the economy stagnates but inflation remains high. The has no good tools to fix the toxic combination. It could try to lower rates to help the economy, for example, but that would likely lead to worse inflation in the short term.

Even with Tuesday’s encouraging report, though, economists and analysts say inflation may still run higher in coming months because of Trump’s . That will likely leave the Fed waiting for more data to guide their decision on whether and when to cut in order to help the economy.

It’s similar to the wait that investors in general are enduring. With the Fed set to make no moves on interest rates for the time being, markets will likely trade “with negotiation and reconciliation headlines,” according to Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo, global cohead and co-chief investment officer of multi-asset solutions within Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

“I think investors are aware that the trade deal is not done yet,” said Louis Wong, director for Phillip Securities Group in Hong Kong.

“I would advise investors to remain cautious in the near term and to be prepared for unexpected news from the trade front,” he added.

On , Coinbase Global jumped 23% after the cryptocurrency exchange learned its stock will join the widely followed S&P 500 index next week. That means many investment funds will likewise add it before trading begins on Monday. Coinbase will replace Discover Financial Services, which is getting bought by Capital One Financial.

Stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry were also strong. Nvidia rose 6.2% and was the biggest single force lifting the S&P 500. Super Micro Computer, which builds servers used in AI, jumped 13.7%, and GE Vernova, which is hoping to power vast AI data centers, rose 6.5%. Palantir Technologies gained 9.4%.

They helped offset UnitedHealth Group, whose shares tumbled 15.8% after it suspended its full-year financial forecast due to higher-than-expected medical costs. The nation’s largest health insurer also announced that was stepping down for personal reasons and that Chairman will become CEO, effective immediately.

UnitedHealth was the main reason the Dow was lagging behind other U.S. stock indexes.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were ticking higher with hopes for the U.S. economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.49% from 4.45% late Monday.

The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely with expectations for Fed action, ticked up to 4.02% from 3.98%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. Stocks fell 1.9% in Shanghai but rose 1.4% in Tokyo.

Automakers were among the big gainers in Japan. Nissan Motor Co. added 3% ahead of an announcement that it plans to lay off 20,000 of its workers as part of its restructuring efforts. The automaker said Tuesday that it racked up a loss of 670.9 billion yen ($4.5 billion) in the last fiscal year.

Trump trade war faces legal challenge as businesses, states argue his tariffs exceeded his power

SUMMARY:

  • Trump used to impose on many nations
  • At least seven lawsuits challenge the legality of the tariffs
  • Small businesses and states say aren’t an emergency

 

is waging a without getting approval from Congress: He declared a national emergency to slap import taxes — tariffs — on almost every country on earth.

The president is now facing at least seven lawsuits that argue he’s gone too far and asserted power he does not have.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of , which deals specifically with civil lawsuits involving international trade , held the first hearing on the challenges Tuesday morning in New York. Five small businesses are asking the court to block the sweeping import taxes that Trump announced April 2 – “Liberation Day,” he called it.

Declaring that the United States’ huge and long-running trade deficits add up to a national emergency, Trump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEPPA) and rolled out 10% tariffs on many countries. He imposed higher– up to 50% — “reciprocal” tariffs on countries that sold more goods to the United States than the U.S. sold them. (Trump later suspended those higher tariffs for 90 days.)

Trump’s tariffs rattled global markets and raised fears that they would disrupt commerce and slow U.S. and global economic growth.

Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel and director of litigation at the nonprofit Liberty Justice Center, said the president is exceeding the act’s authority. “That statute doesn’t actually say anything about giving the president the power to tariff,” said Schwab, who is representing the small businesses. “It doesn’t say the word tariff.”

In their complaint, the businesses also call Trump’s emergency “a figment of his own imagination: trade deficits, which have persisted for decades without causing economic harm, are not an emergency.” The U.S. has, in fact, run a trade deficit – the gap between exports and imports – with the rest of the world for 49 straight years, through good times and bad.

But the Trump administration argues that courts approved President Richard Nixon’s emergency use of tariffs in a 1971 economic crisis. The Nixon administration successfully cited its authority under the 1917 Trading With Enemy Act, which preceded and supplied some of the language used in IEPPA.

The legal battle against Trump’s tariffs has created unusual bedfellows, uniting states led by Democratic governors with libertarian groups – including the Liberty Justice Center – that often seek to overturn government regulation of businesses. A dozen states have filed suit against Trump’s tariffs in the New York trade court. A hearing in that case is scheduled for May 21.

Kathleen Claussen, a professor and trade-law expert at Georgetown Law, said Tuesday’s hearing and another scheduled for the states’ lawsuit in the coming weeks will likely set the tone for legal battles over tariffs to come. If the court agrees to block the tariffs under the emergency economic-powers act, the Trump administration will certainly appeal. “It strikes me probably this probably is something that has to be decided by the ,” she said.

And if the cases do go to the Supreme Court, legal experts say, it’s possible the justices will use conservative legal doctrines they cited to rein in government powers claimed by Democratic President Joe Biden administration to strike down or limit tariffs imposed by Trump, a Republican.

The gives the power to impose taxes — including tariffs — to Congress. But over the years lawmakers ceded power over trade policy to the White House, clearing the way for Trump’s expansive use of tariffs.

Some lawmakers now want to reclaim some of the authority they’ve given up.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, for instance, have introduced legislation that would require presidents to justify new tariffs to Congress. Lawmakers would then have 60 days to approve the tariffs. Otherwise, they would expire.

But their proposal appears to stand little chance of becoming law, given most Republican lawmakers’ deference to Trump and the president’s veto power. “That train has left the station,” said trade lawyer Warren Maruyama, who was general counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in the administration of President George W. Bush.

For now, many American businesses are struggling to cope with Trump’s tariffs, which have lifted America’s average tariff to the highest level since 1934 — even after a trade truce with China was announced Monday, according to Yale University’s Budget Lab.

Victor Schwartz of New York City has spent the last 39 years building a business importing wine and spirits from small producers across the world. The tariffs are hitting his business hard. His customers want regional wines from around the world, so he can’t just shift to American vintages. And the state requires him to post prices a month in advance so it’s tough to keep up with Trump’s ever-changing tariffs.

His business — V.O.S. Selections — is one of the five plaintiffs in Tuesday’s hearing. “It’s a race against time,” he said. “Will we get through it? I’m not sure exactly.”

Northern Virginia sees surge in housing inventory

The saw a nearly 70% increase in in April, compared with 2024, the reports.

data released Tuesday shows that Northern Virginia saw a 69% increase in active monthly listings from last year, reaching 2,508 properties. April’s monthly supply of inventory — a measure of how many months homes would remain on the market if no new inventory were added — increased to 1.85 months, a 65.8% increase over the previous year and a 27.58% increase over March.

NVAR reports that 1,584 homes were sold in April — a 2.4% decrease from the same month in 2024. But despite fewer transactions, the association reports the total dollar volume rose to more than $1.4 billion, a 2.2% increase from last year. NVAR says this increase is driven partially by the continued rise in home values.

The median sale price last month was $779,000, up 3.7% from April 2024. NVAR believes this demonstrates sustained buyer demand in a competitive region.

“Rising prices and steady buyer interest signal that Northern Virginia’s housing market remains fundamentally strong, even as overall sales dipped slightly,” said NVAR Ryan McLaughlin in a statement. “Homeowners continue to benefit from meaningful equity growth, while buyers are acting decisively when the right opportunity arises.”

Homes spent an average of 14 days on the market last month — steady from last year.

NVAR Board Member Rob Carney said in a statement that the current market gives home buyers the benefit of more choices and a better chance of having their offers accepted.

When Northern Virginia’s active listings in March saw a 63.6% increase over the same month in 2024, some speculated part of the uptick was due to the labor turmoil in the federal sector. Under ‘s administration, tens of thousands of federal employees have been fired or put on leave this year as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut federal spending. There have also been in the government contracting industry due to Trump cutting federal contracts. At least 175,000 federal workers lived in the region as of 2023, according to data from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission.

NVAR said Tuesday that while inventory has increased substantially, there is still no significant data indicating that this is being driven by changes in the .

“With a healthier balance between supply and demand, we’re seeing a more stable marketplace emerge,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “That’s good for long-term sustainability and economic vitality in our region.”

Microsoft to lay off about 3% of its workforce

SUMMARY:

  • lays off about 3% of its workforce—around 6,000
  • Cuts affect all levels, with focus on reducing management layers
  • hit , , and other core business units

Microsoft began laying off nearly 3% of its entire workforce Tuesday, its largest mass layoff in more than two years.

The tech giant didn’t disclose the total amount of lost jobs but it will amount to about 6,000 people.

Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. About 55% of those workers were in the U.S.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, said the layoffs will be across all levels and geographies but the cuts will focus on reducing the number of managers. Notices to employees began going out on Tuesday.

Microsoft announced a smaller round of performance-based layoffs in January. But the 3% cuts will be Microsoft’s biggest since early 2023, when the company cut 10,000 workers, almost 5% of its workforce, joining other tech companies that were scaling back their pandemic-era expansions.

The latest layoffs come just weeks after Microsoft reported strong sales and profits that beat expectations for the January-March quarter, which investors took as a dose of relief during a turbulent time for the tech sector and U.S. .

Microsoft’s chief financial officer, Amy Hood, said on an April earnings call that the company was focused on “building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers.” She also said the headcount in March was 2% higher than a year earlier, and down slightly compared to the end of last year.

The layoffs are expected to hit across all parts of Microsoft’s business, including the career networking site LinkedIn and the video game platform Xbox.

The company didn’t give a specific reason for the layoffs, only that they were part of “organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace.”

Microsoft has said it has been spending $80 billion in the fiscal year that ends in June on building data centers and other infrastructure it needs to develop to operate its technology. Those AI tools have been pitched as changing the way people work, including in Microsoft’s own workplaces.

Microsoft told Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at an AI event last month at Meta’s headquarters that “maybe 20, 30% of the code” for some of Microsoft’s coding projects “are probably all written by software.”

Saddle Creek Logistics to lay off 54 Richmond employees

Florida-based plans to lay off 54 employees at its location in July.

Saddle Creek, in compliance with the (WARN) Act, notified the state Friday of plans for a mass layoff at the Richmond site at 4701 Commerce Drive. Human Resources Director Stacey Loyd wrote in a letter to Rapid Response State Coordinator Brett Tavel that the are expected to be permanent.

She wrote that affected employees have been notified of their separation dates, and layoffs are expected to begin on July 1 and completed by July 31.

“There will not be any bumping rights for the affected employees, that is, employees will not be able to displace more junior employees out of their job positions as a result of this mass layoff,” she wrote.

The solutions company, which specializes in order fulfillment, warehousing and transportation services, has a 460,000 square-foot facility at 4701 Commerce Drive in Richmond.

Saddle Creek did not immediately return requests for comment on the reason for the layoffs.

The company announced earlier this year it was laying off 73 workers from an Atlanta operation, starting on June 1.

In an April 3 blog post, Saddle Creek noted that shifting trade policies are bound to have a far-reaching impact on global supply chains.

The company said imposed by “are expected to have a sizable impact on a wide variety of consumer product categories.” It also said recent developments with trade are prompting many companies to reevaluate their supply chains and explore both short and long-term strategies to mitigate risks.

Virginia Works has reported multiple companies’ plans to lay off workers over the past few months. In May, Georgia-Pacific said it planned to close its plywood mill in Emporia, leaving 554 people unemployed, and in April, Sterling-based business management firm Goldschmitt and Associates said it expected to lay off 217 employees in May. Federal contractor Mitre announced in April it would lay off 442 people in McLean by June 3.