The national minimum wage is having more impact on pay rates than was foreseen when it was introduced five years ago, a new report claimed today.

The hourly rate, which increases from £4.50 to £4.85 on Friday (October 1) is setting the pay agenda for an ever wider range of workers, according to pay analysts Incomes Data Services (IDS).

The salaries of clerical workers, ranging from banking staff to civil servants, have been improved by the minimum wage, as well as workers in traditionally low-paid jobs, said IDS.

Head of pay services Alastair Hatchett said: "The increase in the minimum wage, outstripping the rise in average earnings, has forced employers to rethink their grade structures and to introduce new ways of working."

An increasing number of firms are moving their pay review dates to October to coincide with increases in the minimum wage, which was introducd in April 1999, said the report.

IDS said many firms have already increased their minimum hourly rate to £5, adding that "intriguingly" there was still no evidence that increasing the rate had cost jobs.

Employers' organisation the Confederation of British Industry recently sounded a warning that moving the minimum wage towards £5 an hour could start to impact on jobs, but today's report said employment was continuing to grow in retail, catering and leisure, where the statutory rate had a big influence on wages.

The minimum wage for younger workers, aged between 18 and 21, will rise from £3.80 an hour to £4.10 on Friday and a new £3 an hour rate will come into force for 16 and 17-year-olds.

The TUC today accused the CBI of being stuck in a minimum wage "groundhog day", continuing to argue that it could cost jobs despite evidence that jobs have gone up every time the rate had increased.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said: "The minimum wage is doing the business. It helps around a million people every time it goes up, most of them part-time women workers, and jobs have been gained not lost.

"But the CBI seems to be stuck in a minimum wage groundhog day. Every time it increases they cry wolf on job losses. It's time they accepted that the wage works and instead concentrated on helping the Government and trade unions crack down on employers who are still not paying staff the legal minimum."