DeKALB – DeKalb County employment continued its positive trends in October, but the four-month streak of declining unemployment rates was snapped.

The county unemployment rate increased from 6.9 percent in September to 7.4 percent in October despite adding 54 workers to the employment total, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The unemployment rate increased in part because of growth in the labor force, which increased from 59,717 in September to 60,129 in October.

Norman Kelewitz, an employment analyst with IDES, said the increase in labor force and number of people employed is a good indicator, because it means people are attracted to the area and motivated to actively look for work after seeing the improvements in the past year.