Jobs gloom deepened across Kent and Medway last month as more than 650 new people signed on.

The latest figures released today show the county’s jobless total has soared by 657 to 19,850. That’s an increase of nearly 1,200 in the past two months.

In Medway, 201 extra people joined the claimant count, pushing the total to 4,188, or 2.6 per cent of the workforce.

In the rest of the county, the total went up by 456 to 15,662 (1.9 per cent).

Unemployment went up in most of Kent’s 12 districts, although three - Ashford (down three), Dartford (down nine), and Tonbridge and Malling (down 10) - bucked the trend.

Numerically, the worst news came from Swale, with a steep rise of 93, followed by Tunbridge Wells (up 80), Shepway (up 78), and Gravesham (up 50).

Nationally, the number of unemployed people in the last quarter went up 140,000 to 1.82 million. The monthly claimant count rose by 36,500 to 980,900.

Local unemployment figures on October 9: Kent and Medway combined, 19,850 (up 657); Medway, 4,188 (up 201); Rest of Kent, 15,662 (up 456); Ashford, 988 (down three); Canterbury, 1,370 (up 41); Dartford, 1,004 (down nine); Dover, 1,410 (up 48); Gravesham, 1,498 (up 50); Maidstone, 1,235 (up 16); Sevenoaks, 692, (up 28); Shepway, 1,615 (up 78); Swale, 1,783 (up 93); Thanet, 2,618 (up 44); Tonbridge and Malling, 756 (down 10); Tunbridge Wells, 693 (up 80).