UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen by nearly 500 across the county, it has been revealed.

Kent and Medway bucked a national upward trend in August with a dip of 497.

While Medway posted a rise of 15 to 4,508 (2.8 per cent of the workforce), the rest of Kent saw the number of people claiming unemployment benefit come down to 17,345 (2.1 per cent), a drop of 512.

Across the county, only Dartford (up four), Sevenoaks (up two) and Tunbridge Wells (up 17) showed increases. The biggest falls were in Maidstone (down 138), Tonbridge and Malling (down 75) and Thanet (down 103).

Nationally, the claimant count was 950,100 (three per cent), down 3,900 from the previous month but up 80,800 on a year earlier.

The Government’s preferred quarterly measure showed the dole queue lengthening by 93,000 to 1.7 million in the three months to April 2006, an increase of 280,000 from a year earlier.

Jobless figures on August 10: Kent and Medway combined, 21,853 (down 497), Medway, 4,508 (up 15); Rest of Kent, 17,345 (down 512); Ashford, 956 (down 31); Canterbury, 1,645 (down 37); Dartford, 1,175 (up four), Dover, 1,727 (down 43); Gravesham, 1,798 (down 42); Maidstone, 1,280 (down 138); Sevenoaks, 727 (up two); Shepway, 1,761 (down 34); Swale, 2,052 (down 32); Thanet, 2,671 (down 103); Tonbridge and Malling, 846 (down 75); Tunbridge Wells, 707 (down 17).