UNEMPLOYMENT in the county has recently fallen quite considerably, it has been announced.

In one of the best months for a long time, the number of people out of work and claiming benefit in Kent and Medway plummeted by 1,120 to 18,384.

Every area posted an encouraging fall, with three-figure dips in Medway, Canterbury, Dover, and Thanet. Medway did particularly well, with 238 people coming off the dole.

Nationally, the claimant count fell by 13,800 to 864,100. This was 91,100 lower than a year ago. The quarterly unemployment rate stood at 5.4 per cent after falling 35,000 to 1.66 million in the three months to May 2007.

The number of people in manufacturing jobs fell below three million, reaching a new low of 2.96m.

Claimant count on June 14: Kent and Medway combined, 18,384 (down 1,120); Medway, 3,761 (down 238); Rest of Kent, 14,623 (down 882); Ashford, 964 (down 68); Canterbury, 1,268 (down 108); Dartford, 900 (down 24); Dover, 1,363 (down 101); Gravesham, 1,512 (down 75); Maidstone, 1,145 (down 84); Sevenoaks, 546 (down 64); Shepway, 1.635 (down 97); Swale, 1,730 (down 89); Thanet, 2,331 (down 116); Tonbridge and Malling, 642 (down 37); Tunbridge Wells, 587 (down 19).