The economy fell short of expectations in March and added 236,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, showing that the labor market may finally be softening in response to the Federal Reserve's rate hikes.

The unemployment rate is at 3.5%, a historically low figure.

A weaker jobs report indicates that the Fed’s rate hikes are beginning to work and could cause the central bank to lean toward a more dovish monetary stance.

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The reading follows several months of strong and overperforming job gains, which has been key positive economic data that President Joe Biden has touted even as historic inflation cuts deeply into the paychecks of people across the country. Recent jobs reports have proven surprisingly resilient, with the unemployment rate even declining to the lowest level since 1969 in January.

But this latest report cuts into that narrative and raises fears that a recession is right around the corner.

Adding to the indicators of a weaker jobs market, the number of new applications for unemployment benefits was at 228,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, much higher than recently reported numbers. The weekly jobless claims reports give an even more up-to-date sense of the labor market than the monthly employment reports.

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Additionally, there were about 9.9 million job openings across all sectors in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey updated Tuesday, the first time in nearly two years the number of openings fell below 10 million.