DeKALB – The end of the Christmas shopping season and decreased construction could be two of the reasons for the nearly 2 percentage-point jump in DeKalb County’s unemployment rate, employment analysts said.

DeKalb County’s unemployment rate went from 7.7 percent in December to 9.6 percent in January, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

“That’s what occurs because of seasonal patterns,” said IDES analyst Norman Kelewitz. “People are working in stores and [then] they are no longer working in stores because people are finished with their Christmas shopping.”