UNEMPLOYMENT in Kent plunged by more than 700 in May.

There was jobs joy for the second month running as the number of people out of work and claiming benefit fell to 17,886, down 727 on the previous month when there was a further fall of 595.

In Medway, the jobless total fell by 139 to 3,434, or 3.3 per cent of the workforce.

In the past two months, the countywide tally has dipped by just over 1,300. In Medway, the combined fall was 156.

It was a rosy picture across the county, except Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells which both bucked the downward trend.

Unemployment rose by eight in the county town and 18 in Tunbridge Wells. The steepest fall was in Thanet where 124 left the dole queue, a further signal that Kent's jobless blackspot is in better shape.

Nationally, unemployment fell to a 26-year low of 944,000, down 7,000 on the previous month.

The figure was the lowest since the autumn of 1975, while the new jobless rate of 3.1 per cent is the best since the summer of 1975.

The number of people in work reached a record 28.4 million in the three months to April, after an increase of 88,000 over the quarter.

Other figures showed that average earnings increased by 3.3 per cent in the year to April, up by 0.4 per cent from the previous month.

Earnings growth was again faster in the public sector, at 4.1 per cent, compared with 3.1 per cent in private firms.

The loss of manufacturing jobs continued, with 173,000 jobs going in the three months to April, the total falling to a record low of 3.7 million.

Virtually every manufacturing sector cut jobs, including electrical and optical equipment (60,000), textiles, leather and clothing (26,000) and metal products (27,000).

Jobless figures on May 9, 2002: Kent/Medway, 17,886 (down 727); Medway, 3,434 (down 139); Rest of Kent, 14,452 (down 588); Ashford, 872 (down 51); Canterbury, 1,283 (down 78); Dartford, 894 (down 21); Dover, 1,366 (down 85); Gravesham, 1,433 (down 46); Maidstone, 1,054 (up eight); Sevenoaks, 681 (down 40); Shepway, 1,255 (down 81); Swale, 1,681 (down 73); Thanet, 2,641 (down 124); Tonbridge and Malling, 631 (down 15); Tunbridge Wells, 661 (up 18).