Unemployment in Sittingbourne and Sheppey rose in November – one month after recorded its lowest claimant count in a decade.

Figures published on December 16 revealed there were 1,159 people on Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA), which is up 25 from October.

Just two months ago, it was predicted the number of people on the out-of-work benefit would plummet to under 1,000 over the Christmas period, with scores of job-hunters finding temporary seasonal work.

But Mike Ellett, operations manager for the Sittingbourne, Sheerness and Canterbury Jobcentres, said the rise in claimants was misleading.

He said: “The year to date trend is still down, it’s still moving in a positive direction.

“I can’t say for sure what has caused employment to go down this month, but I’ve seen less seasonal work this year.

“What we have seen is increased employment throughout the whole year and people taking up long-term vacancies.

“We’ve just not had the seasonal jobs level we had last year.”

Mr Ellett added a more accurate picture of employment in the area would not be see until January or February next year when traditionally the number of claimants rises.

He said if the figure early next year showed fewer people on JSA than in previous years, it would mean more people than ever before are in full-time work.

The picture in Sittingbourne and Sheppey last month is not reflected across the county, with figures showing 90 people left the dole queue.

There were 16,550 jobseekers claiming out-of-work benefits in November, according to the Office for National Statistics.

"What we have seen is increased employment throughout the whole year and people taking up long-term vacancies" - Mike Ellett, Jobcentre operations manager

The largest decline was in Medway, with 181 people moving into work, leaving just 3,490 claimants.

In the three months to October, unemployment fell by 37,000 across the South East to 170,000. The unemployment rate for the region was 3.7%, down from 4.6%.

Nationally, there were 1.71m unemployed people in the three months to October, down 110,000.

The unemployment rate was 5.2%, down from 6% for a year earlier.