Like major retailers including Target TGT.N and Best Buy BBY.N, Gap is also witnessing weak demand as lower- and mid-income consumers curb spending on non-essential items such as apparel. By Katherine Masters May 25 (Reuters) - Gap Inc GPS.N on Thursday reported a smaller first-quarter loss than a year earlier, benefiting from the company's restructuring efforts and easing supply chain costs. Since September, the retailer has eliminated about 2,300 corporate positions in two rounds of layoffs, joining a set of big U.S. companies that are downsizing in earnest as high inflation eats into consumer wallets.