Britons take fewer sick days; IN BRIEF.

THE number of days off taken by workers in private firms has fallen sharply, leading to a widening gap compared with public sector absence levels, according to a new report. Staff in private companies took an average of 6.4 days off last year, down from 7.2 days the previous year, while absence rates in the public sector only fell marginally, from 9.8 to 9.7 days. Total workplace absence fell from eight days to 7.4 days, representing a loss of 185m working days at a cost of pounds 17.3bn to the economy.