by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Short-term Olympic and Paralympic jobs may have contributed to last month's 177 countywide drop in unemployment.

The Office for National Statistics revealed today 35,772 people in Kent and Medway were claiming Jobseekers' Allowance on August 9 compared to the previous month's figure of 35,949.

Medway reversed the previous month's increase with a fall of 62 to 7,141, or 4.2% of the workforce. Across the rest of Kent, the claimant count dipped by 115 to 28,631 (3.2%).

The drop bolstered the county's recent downward trend that took unemployment down by more than 3,200 between March and June.

Nationally, the jobless total fell by 7,000 in the quarter to July to 2.59m, a rate of 8.1%. The claimant count fell by 15,000 to 1.57million, the largest monthly fall for more than two years. Experts pointed to the probably helpful impact of London 2012.

The number of people in work in the three months to June jumped by 201,000 to 29.48m. Self-employment is on the rise, with an extra 39,000 going it alone, pushing the total to 4.2m. Youth unemployment rose by 7,000.

There was a mixed picture across the county's 12 districts, with seven seeing their jobless toll falling, four rising and one level.

Swale recorded the steepest fall (51) while the most disappointing figures came from Thanet, with an extra 37 people joining the dole queue, pushing up the claimant count to 4,861. The percentage of the Thanet workforce out of work - 6.1% - is the worst in Kent.

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, which represents hundreds of Kent and Medway firms, said the figures were encouraging and raised questions over official data showing the country in recession.

But he warned there were still concerns: "The number of people forced to work part-time because they cannot find a full-time job has reached a new high, and there are still too many young people unemployed.

"More deficit cuts in the coming months mean there will be a further reduction in public sector employment, although it is reassuring to see that the private sector is willing and able to create new jobs."