The U.S. economy added fewer jobs in January than economists had forecast, although the jobless rate edged lower.

But first a bit of background: The numbers in Friday’s jobs report most likely will change in the months (and years) to come.

Friday’s report provided evidence of slowing expansion. The 143,000 jobs added would be the weakest January total since 2016.

The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of January 25 climbed to 1.89 million.