Unemployment in Kent- a year on from the start of the pandemic

Covid-19 has had a significant impact on many of our working lives.

Thousands of people around Kent have been left unemployed over the past year, due to both businesses closing down or not being able to afford to keep staff on.

Compared to last year, unemployment rates across the entire country have sky rocketed.

In the South of Kent, Folkestone and Ashford have seen a significant rise in unemployment. With Ashford showing a 107.7% increase on unemployment since March 2020.

Compared to the rest of the country, Kent is not in the worst position. The claimant rate in Kent is currently 0.5% below the national average and unemployment has fallen for males and females over the past month.

In the East of Kent, unemployment figures have shown the smallest increase in unemployment in the past year. With Dover and Thanet showing less than an 80% increase from March 2020.

57,385 people are now claiming unemployment benefits in Kent. This is more than 30,000 more than last year.

The North of Kent has also seen drastic rises in unemployment, with Medway having the highest amount of unemployed people in Kent at 12,235.

The pandemic has affected young people greatly in many different ways. This is no different when it comes to unemployment.

The 18-24 year old unemployment rate in Kent is 9.5%. They account for 20.2% of all unemployed people in the area.

West Kent has also been heavily hit with unemployment. With Sevenoaks seeing the highest increase of unemployment since March 2020 at 200.5%.

For full Kent unemployment statistics, click here 

Feature image credit: Nick Youngson