by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Unemployment across the county plunged again last month - with more than 1,600 people coming off the dole.

Evidence of a pick-up in the labour market, despite fears of public sector layoffs, has been shown by a steep drop in the the number of people out of work and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for the third month in a row.

Over the last three months, the total has fallen by nearly 3,667.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics published today, the claimant count on May 13 stood at 34,077, down 1,645 over the previous month.

In Medway, the total dipped by 317 to 6,954, or 4.4 per cent of the workforce. Across the rest of Kent, it fell by 1,328 to 27,123.

Seven of Kent's 12 districts - Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Gravesham, Maidstone, Swale and Thanet - posted treble-digit falls.

Nationally, 2.47million people were unemployed in the three months to April, a rate of 7.9 per cent and 23,000 higher than the previous quarter.

The claimant count fell by 30,900 to 1.48million, the first time since March 2009 that it has been below 1.5million.

But the number of inactive people of working age increased by 29,000 to reach a record high of 8.19million, and the number of people out of work for more than 12 months rose by 85,000 to 772,000.

Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said the figures showed the jobs market was in a somewhat better shape but the rise in headline unemployment was dampened by a rise in the number of economically inactive people.

Claimant count on May 13:

• Kent and Medway, 34,077 (down 1,645)
• Medway, 6,954 (down 317)
• Rest of Kent, 27,123 (down 1,328)
• Ashford, 1,859 (down 111)
• Canterbury, 2,229 (down 154)
• Dartford, 2,048 (down 77)
• Dover, 2,266 (down 156)
• Gravesham, 2,535 (down 135)
• Maidstone, 2,366 (down 145)
• Sevenoaks, 1,328 (down 95)
• Shepway, 2,568 (down 65)
• Swale, 3,158 (down 103)
• Thanet, 4,111 (down 175)
• Tonbridge and Malling, 1,427 (down 62)
• Tunbridge Wells, 1,228 (down 50).