(Newser)
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Good news for the British: They'll be getting an extra day off to celebrate the royal wedding next year. The bad news: That extra day off will cost the country $7.9 billion, according to calculations by the Telegraph. Business groups expect the day off to result in $9.48 billion in lost productivity, which will be offset by some $1.6 billion in extra spending by tourists and in sales of memorabilia.
The extra day comes the week after Easter, giving employees a 3-day work week. Employers fear many workers might call in sick for the entire week. "There will be a real temptation to not bother going into work that week. It could see many businesses just shut down," says the chief of Britain's Federation of Small Businesses. "There is a real risk we are turning into France when we just put down tools for weeks at a time." Click here to see how much the wedding itself is expected to cost.
