There’s a “stark warning” on the UK retail jobs front from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) saying numbers have plunged to a record low over the last year, while 400,000 positions have been lost over the last decade.

Citing the latest numbers from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) there were 2.73 million jobs in retail in June, down 97,000 year-on-year and 393,000 fewer than in 2015.

On a four-quarter average there were 1.28 million full-time and 1.5 million part-time jobs. The number of full-time jobs is down 133,000 on a decade ago. Meanwhile, the number of part-time jobs is down 258,000 over the same period.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson blamed the continuing declines on the rising cost of employer taxes and higher wages, “together costing the industry over £5 billion this year… hitting retail employment hard.”

And she warned that worse could be yet to come, with the Employment Rights Bill “having a materially negative impact on employment” according to the OBR, “and the threat of further cost rises at the Autumn Budget looming large.

“As costs mount on the industry, retail jobs are falling by the wayside. Whether it’s the additional complexity wrought by the Employment Rights Bill, or a new surtax on large retail premises, the impact of these policies will be to drive up prices and hold back retail employment.

“It’s vital that the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget does not increase costs to the high street further, or else it will be working people who will pay the price as local, flexible jobs are lost, and the cost of living continues to rise.”