Unemployment across the county has fallen by more than 1,200.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people out of work and claiming Job Seekers Allowance last month (May) dipped by 1,215 to 33,425.

In Medway, the claimant count fell by 241 to 6,394 (3.7% of the workforce), whilst across the rest of Kent, 974 people left the dole queue as the total plunged to 27,031 (2.9%).

Each of Kent’s 12 districts saw a fall, with treble-digit drops in Dover (down 132), Gravesham (down 126) and Thanet (down 163).

Nationally, the claimant count fell by 8,600 to 1.51 million. That was 87,600 lower than the same month a year ago.

The number of people unemployed in the three months between November and January fell 5,000 to 2.51 million (7.8%, 88,000 lower than a year earlier.

Claimant count on May 9: Kent and Medway, 33,425 (down 1,215); Medway, 6,394 (down 241); Rest of Kent, 27,031 (down 974); Ashford, 1,905 (down 42); Canterbury, 2,249 (down 67); Dartford, 1,694 (down 92); Dover, 2,498 (down 132); Gravesham, 2,399 (down 126); Maidstone, 2,406 (down 37); Sevenoaks, 1,086 (down 83); Shepway, 2,595 (down 70); Swale, 3,149 (down 73); Thanet, 4,700 (down 163); Tonbridge and Malling, 1,403 (down 44); Tunbridge Wells, 947 (down 45).