UNEMPLOYMENT across the county edged up by 87 in March, giving hope that the worst may be over after a steep increase of 1,184 the previous month.

The latest figures show a dip of 10 in Medway and a rise of 97 in the rest of the county.

The total number of claimants on March 9 stood at 23,194 - 4,643 in Medway and 18,551 in Kent.

There was a mixed picture in the county’s 12 districts, with increases in eight and reductions in four - Dartford, Shepway, Swale and Sevenoaks.

Nationally, the claimant count rose by 12,600 to 937,600. The quarterly unemployment level was 1.56 million (5.1 per cent), up 30,000 from the three months to November.

The number of unemployed men was unchanged at 900,000, the number of unemployed women up 31,000 to 659,000.

Unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds was down 17,000 to 435,000.

The number of jobs in the workforce went up 92,000 to 30.92 million.

But, even before the recent announcement about the closure of the Peugeot plant at Ryton, the number of people in manufacturing fell to 3.07 million, down 13,000 on the same period a year ago.

The number of public sector workers was 5.88 million, up 62,000 on a year ago. Over the same period, the private sector increased by 115,000 to 22.94 million.

Average earnings went up by 3.8 per in the three months to February.

Claimant count on March 9, 2006: Kent and Medway combined, 23,194 (up 87); Medway, 4.643 (down 10); Rest of Kent, 18,551 (up 97); Ashford, 1,104 (up 22); Canterbury, 1,721 (up 41); Dartford, 1,170 (down 15); Dover, 1,894 (up nine); Gravesham, 1,883 (up 69); Maidstone, 1,441 (up 31); Sevenoaks, 702 (down 32); Shepway, 1,804 (down 68); Swale, 2,203 (down two); Thanet, 2.917 (up 19); Tonbridge and Malling, 916 (up 11); Tunbridge Wells, 796 (up 12).