by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Unemployment across the county has fallen by just 14.

The trend of steep drops in recent months – down by more than 3,200 between March and June - appears to have stalled.

Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics show 35,949 people in Kent and Medway were claiming Jobseekers' Allowance on July 12, just 14 fewer than the previous month (35,963).

Medway fared worse, with the jobless total jumping by 58 from 7,145 to 7,203 (4.3% of the workforce). In the rest of Kent, the claimant count fell to 28,746 (3.2%) - a drop of 72.Nationally, the number of unemployed people in the three months to June fell by 46,000 to 2.56 million. The claimant count fell 5,900 to 1.59m. Some of the fall might have been due to temporary work created by the Olympic Games.

There were 1.01 million unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds, down 4,000 from the three months to March.

Excluding those in full-time education, there were 713,000 unemployed people in this age group, up 9,000.

All bar four of Kent's 12 districts saw unemployment fall. The exceptions were Maidstone (up 14), Thanet (up 27) and Shepway (up two). The jobless total in Sevenoaks remained unchanged at 1,271.