Unemployment rates fell slightly in New Hanover and Pender counties in December compared to the previous month, with a small increase in Brunswick County for the same period, according to state statistics released Wednesday.

At 5.2 percent, New Hanover County's rate remained close to what some economists consider full employment (5 percent), showing a decrease of 0.1 of a percentage point from November to December and an increase of half a percentage point from December last year.

The numbers, released by the N.C. Department of Commerce’s Labor & Economics Analysis Division, are not seasonally adjusted.

Although its unemployment rate in December was a little higher than New Hanover’s at 6.1 percent, Pender County’s had the same 0.1 percentage point change from the previous month. Brunswick County’s unemployment rate increased from 7 to 7.1 percent from November to December 2015.

Jobless numbers declined in 70 North Carolina counties in December, increased in 21 and remained unchanged in nine, with Graham County recording the highest unemployment rate – 12 percent, Wednesday's news release said.

Statewide, the number of workers who are employed decreased in December by more than 25,000 (to 4.5 million), while the number of jobless residents decreased by 10,375 (to 249,845).

The unemployment rate in the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Pender and New Hanover counties, remained the same in the last month of 2015.

The state’s seasonally adjusted December unemployment rate was 5.6 percent.