Inflation rate hits four-year low; Microsoft plans job cuts; Office attendance edges down

U.S. consumer inflation reached an annual rate of 2.3% in April, down from 2.4% in the prior month and the lowest level since February 2021, according to the latest Labor Department data. Analysts remained concerned about potential future effects of trade tariffs on consumer prices, as the Federal Reserve seeks assurance that inflation remains on track to reach its target of 2% before it gets back to reducing interest rates.

The government Tuesday said the shelter category that includes rents continued to weigh heavily on overall inflation, accounting for more than half of April’s total 0.2% month-over-month increase in prices. The shelter category rose 0.3% for the month as those costs increased 4% from April 2024. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said housing remains the “jumbo heavyweight of inflation.”

“Getting shelter costs under control with more housing supply, and not via disastrous rent control, will be the key to getting overall inflation fully tamed and for the Federal Reserve to ‘normalize,' which in my view means four to six additional rate cuts,” Yun said.

Annual shelter inflation was higher than the rate for food at 2.8%, medical care services at 3.1% and transportation services at 2.5%. Energy prices dropped 3.7% from a year earlier, aided in part by a nearly 12% decline for gasoline.

The Fed has left its key borrowing rates unchanged since December amid uncertainty over trade tariff impacts. Analysts at forecasting firm Oxford Economics said the latest inflation data alone likely won’t sway the Fed from its current wait-and-see stance. 

Microsoft is planning to reduce its global workforce by 3%, affecting about 6,000 employees across multiple departments, as part of larger moves by the software giant to cut costs and streamline its management structure.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” the Redmond, Washington-based company said in a statement Tuesday.

The latest round of cuts is Microsoft’s largest since it eliminated 10,000 positions in 2023, as many firms adjust workforces in response to shifts in demand for technologies such as artificial intelligence. Microsoft employed about 228,000 worldwide as of mid-2024, according to public filings.

Several technology companies have cut jobs in the past year, with the latest reductions announced in 2025 by firms such as Google, Amazon, CrowdStrike and Facebook parent Meta. U.S.-based tech firms announced more than 64,000 job cuts in the first four months of 2025, up from about 47,000 in the same period of 2024, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

Office attendance in 10 tracked large U.S. regions averaged 53.4% of the pre-pandemic level in the latest reporting from Kastle Systems for the week ended May 7. That was down slightly from 53.6% in the previous week but stayed close to the peak 54.5% reached in the week ended March 5.

Based on anonymous keycard data from the security technology firm’s office property clients, the 10-city average has posted consistently above 51% for most weeks since late January. This has occurred as many private employers and government agencies have increased their in-office work requirements.

Texas cities have led in attendance for most of the post-pandemic era, with the latest Kastle numbers showing Houston at 61.9%, Austin at 61.2% and Dallas at 59.9%. They were followed by Chicago at 56%, New York at 54.5% and Washington, D.C., at 54%.