by Trevor Sturgess

Kent has seen a steep fall in jobless figures.

While the national rise of 53,000 to 2.51m in the first three months of the year was a major worry for the incoming government, Kent and Medway again bucked the trend.

The number of people out of work and claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance fell by 1,124 to 35,722. In Medway, it dipped by 175 to 7,271 and in the rest of Kent by 949 to 28,451.

It was the second fall in a row, with the county’s jobless total dipping by 2,022 in the past two months. There were three-digit falls in the month to April 8 in Canterbury, Dover, Shepway, and Tonbridge and Malling.

Commenting on the national figures, John Cridland, CBI deputy director-general, said: "These jobs figures show how fragile the recovery is, and we expect tough labour market conditions to continue for some time.

"It is notable that those working part-time because they cannot get a full-time job is over one million. Earnings growth, excluding bonuses, was largely driven by the public sector."

Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said the national figures were dire. "Higher unemployment (including more unemployed young people), fewer people in work (especially full-time work), an increase in redundancies, a fall in job vacancies, and especially a record number of economically inactive people sends out a clear SOS message on the state of the UK labour market."

• Jobless figures on April 8: Kent and Medway, 35,722 (down 1,124); Medway, 7,271 (down 175); Rest of Kent, 28,451 (down 949); Ashford, 1,970 (down 96); Canterbury, 2,383 (down 124); Dartford, 2,125 (down 38); Dover, 2,422 (down 105); Gravesham, 2,670 (down 56); Maidstone, 2,511 (down 82); Sevenoaks, 1,423 (down 53); Shepway, 2,533 (down 110); Swale, 3,261 (down 55); Thanet, 4,286 (down 74); Tonbridge and Malling, 1,489 (down 106); Tunbridge Wells, 1,278 (down 50).