UNEMPLOYMENT in the county has fallen by more than 900.

The latest statistics show Medway's jobless total falling by 214 and the Rest of Kent’s by 719, a combined figure of 933.

The only places in Kent to buck the downward trend were Maidstone (up five) and Tunbridge Wells (up 11).

There was good news for East Kent, with treble-digit falls in Canterbury (down 153), Dover (down 135), Swale (down 114) and Thanet (down 105).

Nationally, the claimant count fell 9,300 to 880,400. In a separate measure, the unemployment rate was 5.5 per cent, with the number of unemployed people down by 15,000 to 1.68 million in the three months to April.

Jobless figures on May 10: Kent and Medway, 19,504 (down 933); Medway, 3,999 (down 214); Rest of Kent, 15,505 (down 719); Ashford, 1,032 (down 56); Canterbury, 1,376 (down 153); Dartford, 924 (down 37); Dover, 1,464 (down 135); Gravesham, 1,587 (down 43); Maidstone, 1,229 (up five); Sevenoaks, 610 (down four); Shepway, 1,732 (down 76); Swale, 1,819 (down 114);Thanet, 2,447 (down 105); Tonbridge and Malling, 679 (down 12); Tunbridge Wells, 606 (up 11).