Australia’s unemployment rate remained steady at 5.2 percent in December, data showed Thursday, but economists said the jobs market was weakening and raised the likelihood of an interest rate cut.

It came in the same as the revised November figure and compared to a consensus forecast of 5.3 percent.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the number of people employed fell by 29,300 to 11.4 million last month, although much of the losses were in the part-time sector while full-time jobs rose 24,500 to 8.051 million.

The participation rate, or people actively seeking work, was 65.2 percent, compared with 65.5 percent in November.