Retail jobs could soon benefit from the positive outlook in consumer confidence, which is currently at the highest level in 18 months.

The latest Consumer Confidence Index made available by Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) unveiled an increase to 75, up from the 65 seen in April.

Stephen Robertson, Director General at BRC commented: “These figures suggest it will be a long, slow climb out of recession for many customers but some do now have their feet on the first rung of the ladder.

“There's no question the general mood of customers is better than a year ago, when conditions were dire, but improvement has been slow so far.”

Robertson also said that some consumers are still worried about their jobs and finances and this could hold full recovery back until next year.

However, 20pc of consumers believe Britain’s job prospects in the year to come will be either “good” or “excellent”.

Justin Sargent, Managing Director at Nielsen said: “This latest poll shows that the confidence of the nation continues to improve, though consumers remain very guarded and we are still a long way from the confidence levels we saw prior to the economic meltdown.”