by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Unemployment has fallen by 225 across the county.

It was the first encouraging news on the jobs front for several months as the total number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance in Kent and Medway dipped to 33,851 last month (March).

In Medway, the number of claimants slipped by 24 to 6,654 (four per cent of the workforce), while across the rest of Kent, the total fell by 201 to 27,197 (3.1 per cent).

Nationally, unemployment dropped by 17,000 to 2.48 million in the three months to February, a rate of 7.8 per cent. The national claimant count edged up 700 to 1.45 million.

Fears that the number of 16-24 year olds without a job might smash through the million barrier proved unfounded as unemployment in this group stood at 963,000, a rise of 12,000.

However, the prospects for young people remain bleak, with this group making up a massive 20 per cent of the economically active population.

The number of economically inactive people aged 16 to 64 fell by 71,000 to 9.3 million.

The impact of spending cuts resulted in the number of people in public sector jobs fell by 45,000 to 6.2 million, while private sector employment rose by 77,000 to nearly 23 million.

Steven Kirkpatrick, managing director of recruitment firm Adecco, which has branches in Kent, said most vacancies were due to people leaving roles rather than new jobs being created.

"Last month's Budget did little to support the creation of new roles and so far this year, we have not seen many signs that private sector vacancies will be able to make up for the public sector job losses, especially as the economic climate is discouraging people from leaving secure positions."

Claimant count on March 10: Kent and Medway, 33,851 (down 225); Medway, 6,654 (down 24); Rest of Kent, 27,197 (down 201); Ashford, 1,896 (down 79); Canterbury, 2,273 (down six); Dartford, 1,974 (down one); Dover, 2,341 (down 21); Gravesham, 2,574 (up 56); Maidstone, 2,324 (up 36); Sevenoaks, 1,263 (up 10); Shepway, 2,472 (down 113); Swale, 3,181 (up nine); Thanet, 4,340 (down 81); Tonbridge and Malling, 1,418 (down 41); Tunbridge Wells, 1,141 (up 30).