Unemployment rates in the Wilmington area continued to fall in October, according to state statistics released Tuesday.

From September to October, the rate for the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area dropped a half percent, from 6 to 5.5 percent, and posted a change of nearly 2 percentage points over October 2013, said a news release from the Labor and Economic Analysis Division of the N.C. Department of Commerce.

New Hanover County's rate fell from 5.6 percent in September to 5.2 percent in October; Brunswick County's from 6.6 to 6 percent; and Pender County's from 6.5 to 5.7 percent, state officials say. Across North Carolina, unemployment numbers decreased in all counties except two -- Currituck and Dare counties, which experienced slight increases.

Local county numbers (not seasonally adjusted) showed year-over-year improvements as well, with New Hanover's rate down by 2 percentage points, Brunswick's down by 1.4 and Pender's dropping 2.6  from October 2013.

Thom Rakes, director of University of North Carolina Wilmington's Career Center, said he is "cautiously optimistic" about what seems to be a steadily improving job market.

But there's no doubt that there are signs of improvement, he said.

"We can tell it just in the contact we get from employers that we haven’t even reached out to, very often small- to mid-size firms that maybe we aren't even aware of," Rakes said Tuesday.

In October, the center held its Career Carnival with more than 50 employers and 900 students, and has scheduled another comprehensive career fair for Feb. 25.

"I anticipate it will slowly continue to improve over the next several months and years," Rakes said of the job market.

In October, according to the state figures, Chatham County had the lowest rate, at 3.8 percent, of all the state's counties in October while Asheville at 4.1 percent had the lowest for MSAs. New Hanover's rate in October ranked 29th out of 100 in the state; Pender's, 50th; and Brunswick's, 63rd. 

The number of workers employed statewide increased in October by 48,712, up to 4,421,890, the state release said.