Microsoft terminated the employment of two software engineers who protested at company events Friday over the Israeli military’s use of the company’s artificial intelligence products, according to documents viewed by CNBC.

Ibtihal Aboussad, a software engineer in the company’s AI division who is based in Canada, was fired Monday over “just cause, wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty,” according to one of the documents.

Anxiety and uncertainty over U.S. tariffs and economic retaliation from China caused foreign markets to plunge on Monday. European and Asian stock markets were the first to experience the economic fallout this week. 

Asian markets were hit particularly hard. 

An unfounded claim that President Donald Trump was considering pausing the implementation of sizable tariffs briefly sent U.S. stocks skyrocketing on Monday, an indication of just how volatile the current economic situation has become.

Just after 10:10 a.m., a headline was posted by several well-followed finance-focused accounts on X that said White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett had indicated that Trump was considering a 90-day pause — China excluded — on his sweeping tariffs plan.

Desperate for some relief from the relentless three-day stock rout, investors sparked a momentary rally Monday apparently based on what turned out to be fake news.

The S&P 500 rallied 8.5% in 34 minutes midmorning, briefly adding $3.6 trillion in market value.

That was after it fell as much as 4.7% and officially entered bear market territory at the opening bell. At its intraday peak, the S&P 500 was up 3.4% for the day.

The stock market temporarily swung upwards in a matter of minutes after CNBC ran several chyrons falsely stating that President Donald Trump considered a 90-day pause on the tariffs.

Several outlets reported on the now-debunked 90-day pause after White House national economic council director Kevin Hassett told Fox News that Trump will “decide what [he’s] going to decide” on tariffs. Hassett touched upon this issue in response to billionaire Bill Ackman, who called for a 90-pause to prevent an “economic nuclear winter” due to tariffs.

If President Trump’s trade war has a physical battleground, it is Michigan, where companies and workers are already feeling the beginning of an onslaught that could blow a hole in the state’s economy.

Nearly 20% of the economy is tied to the auto industry, which has become increasingly dependent on parts and vehicles from Canada, Mexico and China—imports Trump hit with steep tariffs in recent weeks. This trade has grown so large that Michigan ranks fifth in the nation by the size of its imports and exports, even though its total economy ranks 14th.

When sky-high inflation pummeled Americans in 2022, the labor market was booming and wages were rising, softening the blow.

Now we're in a more vulnerable place.

Why it matters: With economists expecting tariffs to drive inflation, at least in the short-term, the concern is wages won't keep up, leading to lower incomes and real pain for many.

With new wide-ranging and aggressive tariffs from the Trump administration and the possibility of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expiring at the end of the year, average Americans could face a hefty price tag. 

"If the tax cuts expire, the median family would lose about $1,000," nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) Kimberly Clausing told Fox News Digital, citing a model from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. 

Anew survey has found that 80 percent of Americans believe the Trump administration and Congress should prioritize legislation to help people plan and save for a secure retirement.

The U.S. economy added far more jobs than expected in March, but President Donald Trump's sweeping import tariffs could test the labor market's resilience in the months ahead amid sagging business confidence and a stock market selloff.