Retail redundancies may rise as a result of the national minimum wage increase, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) fears.
The organisation has launched a survey to gauge the impact of the increase and findings are expected in October.
In March, it was decided to increase the adult minimum wage to£4.85.
A BRC spokeswoman said: 'We have no way of knowing what the impact on redundancies will be, but, based on our previous survey, we are not expecting good news.' Smaller retailers are likely to be most affected.
The last BRC minimum wage survey, published in 2002, indicated the sector would suffer if rates climbed substantially again. Some 23 per cent of retailers reported then that they had been forced to recruit fewer staff and 45 per cent had reduced staff levels.
BRC director general Kevin Hawkins said: 'The Government did not fully consider ... the rise to£4.85, and we remain concerned about the severe impact it could have on wage differentials, recruitment, benefits and redundancies.'
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