KENT bucked the national jobless trend in April with 500 quitting the dole queue. But Medway followed the trend with an increase of nearly 80.

As the claimant count rose nationally by 7,700 to 945,500, it fell by 516 across the county to 22,678.

Only one of 12 Kent districts – Dartford – posted a rise, and this was just six.

Elsewhere, east Kent fared well, with 130 finding work in Thanet, 99 in Swale, 46 in Dover and 23 in Shepway.

While the fall was good news, it was only a blip in an otherwise gloomier picture.

Unemployment has risen by more than 3,700 in the 12 months to April 13, the date of the latest claimant count.

A year ago, the jobless total in Medway was 3,761 (961 fewer) and 15,188 (2,768 fewer) in the rest of Kent.

Nationally, the unemployment level was 1.59 million (5.2 per cent) in the three months to March, up 44,000 from the previous quarter.

A year ago, it stood at 1.4 million (4.7 per cent).

Claimant count on April 13: Kent and Medway, 22,678 (down 516); Medway, 4,722 (up 79); Rest of Kent, 17,956 (down 595); Ashford, 1,091 (down 13); Canterbury, 1,695 (down 26); Dartford, 1,176 (up six); Dover, 1,848 (down 46); Gravesham, 1,825 (down 58); Maidstone, 1,365 (down 76); Sevenoaks, 683 (down 19); Shepway, 1,781 (down 23); Swale, 2,104 (down 99); Thanet, 2,787 (down 130); Tonbridge and Malling, 847 (down 69); and Tunbridge Wells, 754 (down 42).