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The Guardian - UK

Business

Larry Elliott

It’s ‘national sickie day’ – is ill-health holding back the UK economy?

Office for National Statistics United Kingdom Unemployment LFS

Woman and man with cold or flu — The first Monday in February is supposedly the day on which the most staff call in sick compared with the rest of the year. Photograph: Jozef Polc/Alamy

The first Monday of February is apparently the most popular day for employees to call in sick, so the timing of the latest labour market health check by Britain’s number crunchers could scarcely have been better.

According to the latest evidence the UK has an even bigger problem with inactivity due to long-term sickness than previously thought.

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