Dole queues in the county rose for the sixth consecutive month, figures released today show.

Unemployment in Kent and Medway rose by 495 people to 36,215 in the month leading to December, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The last time there was a fall in the number claiming Jobseekers Allowance, known as the claimant count, was back in June 2011, when the overall figure for Kent and Medway was 33,320.

The hardest hit was Thanet, which saw the number of people out of work rise by 153 to 4,767.

The next worse off is Shepway, whose dole queues went up by 102 to 2,808.

There were also significant rises in Dover (up 78 to 2,601), Swale (up 53 to 3,434), Gravesham (up 38 to 2,729), Canterbury (up 37 to 2,451) Ashford (up 29 to 1,934) and Maidstone (up 28 to 2,518).

A rise of eight was seen in Medway to 7,139 and an increase of one was seen in Sevenoaks to 1,305, while the rest of the county saw their jobless total fall.

The biggest increase in those finding work was in Tonbridge and Malling, whose claimant count fell by 23 to 1,508.

There were also falls in Tunbridge Wells (down seven to 1,136) and Dartford (down two to 1,877).

Nationally, the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in December rose by 1,200 to 1.6 million.

The unemployment rate also rose to 8.4% from 8.3%, the highest since January 1996.