Consumer confidence is at a record low according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Its survey found that most people now feared losing their jobs, a factor in knocking a further nine points off its consumer confidence index, which now stands at 65 against 74 in October.

Of the people polled, 86 per cent said they felt "negatively" about their job prospects for the coming year.

This is a huge jump from the 23 per cent who reported "negatively" on job prospects in October.

Only 13 per cent held on to the hope that the country would come out of recession in the next 12 months.

After this, it should be no surprise that more people predicted that their personal finances would be "not so good" (49 per cent) or "bad" (17 per cent) in the coming months.

Signs of belt-tightening were revealed in the figures related to spending – 47 per cent believed that now was "not a good time" to spend on things they wanted and needed, while 23 per cent said it was actually a "bad time".

“This survey suggests the economy’s climb back to growth will be harder and slower than the Government claims," said BRC director-general Stephen Robertson.

"Only 13 per cent of people believe we’ll be out of the recession by this time next year. Six months ago nearly one in five thought the recession would be over by this Christmas. Clearly most people don’t share the Chancellor’s optimism.

“The decline in worries about food, utility and fuel prices would be unambiguously good news - if it hadn’t been replaced by concerns about jobs."

At research company Nielsen, which helped to compile the BRC's figures, managing director Justin Sargent pointed out that nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of those polled said they did not have any spare cash after they had covered essential living expenses, up from 21 per cent six months ago.