KENT and Medway bucked the national trend last month as unemployment fell by more than 200. In Medway, the jobless total dipped to 3,066, down 91 on the previous month and just three per cent of the workforce.

There was a similar picture across the rest of the county, with the number of people out of work and claiming benefit down 122 to 13,944 (2.2 per cent). The combined countywide tally fell by 213 to 17,010 (2.3 per cent).

There were falls across the county, although four east Kent districts vulnerable to seasonal ups and downs saw a rise for the first time in several months - Swale, Dover, Shepway and Thanet. The countywide drop surprised experts who had expected recent cutbacks in manufacturing, job losses at Gatwick Airport where many Kent people work, and the global economic slowdown, worsened by the terrorist attacks on September 11, to feed through to the claimant count.

However, nationally their impact has been felt as jobless figures rose for the first time in a year. The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits rose by 4,300 to 951,100, a jobless rate of 3.2 per cent.

County's jobless figures on October 11: Kent/Medway combined, 17,010 (down 213); Kent, 13,944 (down 122); Medway, 3,066 (down 91); Ashford, 748 (down 37); Canterbury, 1,325 (down 25); Dartford, 742 (level); Dover, 1,406 (up 35); Gravesham, 1,353 (down 75); Maidstone, 986 (down 12); Sevenoaks, 568 (down 18); Shepway, 1,361 (up five); Swale, 1,591 (up 26); Thanet, 2,791 (up 71); Tonbridge and Malling, 566 (down 37); Tunbridge Wells, 507 (down 55).