There was a sharp rise in the number of people on unemployment benefits in Kent.

Another 280 people began claiming either jobseeker’s allowance or universal credit in January, taking the county’s total to 18,435.

It comes after a fall of 105 in December, indicating many new jobhunters will be those who had seasonal jobs over Christmas.

The biggest growth was seen in Gravesham, where another 50 people joined the dole queue to take the district’s total to 1,295.

The joint second-largest increases were seen in Ashford, Shepway, Thanet and Tunbridge Wells, which all saw their claimant count increase by 40 to 1,170, 1,390, 2,785 and 565 respectively.

The only declines, albeit modest, were seen in Medway (down 15 to 3,330) and Tonbridge and Malling (down to 725).

Martin Kennedy, office manager at Dover Jobcentre, said: “There are quite a few of our offices which have a seasonal variation because historically there is more employment in the spring and summer in Kent than the autumn and winter.

“You tend to find quite a few industries have slower periods in the winter.”

Across the South East, unemployment fell by 12,000 in the three months to December to 157,000, giving the region an unemployment rate of 3.4%.

Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green, who is the MP for Ashford, said: “With employment at its highest rate since records began, and unemployment at its lowest in over a decade, we remain in a position of strength.

“Our on-going welfare reforms will continue to incentivise work and make sure the system is fair to all those who need it and those who pay for it.

“There’s good news in the South East where there is a record number of people in work at 4.54 million and a record rate of women in work at 73.5%.”

Nationally, there were 1.6 million unemployed, little changed on the period from July to September but 97,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

The unemployment rate was 4.8%, its lowest level since July to September 2005.