Dole queues have shortened across Kent

by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Unemployment across the county has plunged by more than 700.

In heartening news for the government and jobseekers, the claimant count fell by 735 to 35,037, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

The number of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance in Medway dipped to 6,938 - down 203 people over the previous month - while across the rest of Kent, the jobless total stood at 28,099 on September 13, a drop of 532.

Nationally, the claimant count fell by 4,000 to 1.57milliob. Quarterly unemployment dropped by 50,000 to 2.53million - a rate of 7.9%.

Just three of Kent's 12 districts saw their jobless numbers rise slightly - Ashford (up nine), Canterbury (up nine) and Swale (up seven).

The rest posted significant falls, with the largest in Dover (down 127). Kent Thameside gave a strong showing, with Dartford and Gravesham recording a combined fall of 183.

The number of people in work across the county rose by 212,000 over the previous quarter and more than half a million up on the same period a year ago.

While private sector employment rose by 471,000, the number of people in the public sector fell by 235,000.

Falling unemployment at a time of recession is baffling experts. David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "The strong trend in the labour market raises questions about the accuracy of GDP figures which are still showing three consecutive declines over the period to the second quarter of 2012."

Julie Bishop, founder of the social recruitment platform JobHop.co.uk, warned the jobs market was still deeply fragile and competition for jobs was intense.

She said: "Around two thirds of job vacancies are never advertised, leaving candidates relying on guile and networking skills to find work. This is creating a clear generational divide in the way people look for work, with younger, tech-savvy candidates switching to social networking platforms rather than waiting for job adverts."