Tuesday newspaper round-up: Jobs boost, Brainard caution, recovery 'mirage'

The already depressed odds of a Federal Reserve interest rate rise happening this month took a further hit on Monday after a senior policymaker set out a series of arguments for not rushing to an increase. Amid fevered speculation about the US central bank’s policy meeting next week, Lael Brainard called for caution on rates amid doggedly below-target inflation, risks from overseas and a limited arsenal to counter future economic setbacks. - Financial Times

Britain’s post-referendum recovery may prove to be a “mirage”, a leading credit rating agency has warned, as uncertainty about the country’s relationship with the European Union persuades companies to delay staff hiring and investment. Standard & Poor’s said signs of recovery should be treated with caution because a rebound in August only made up for ground lost in July. - Guardian

Industrial and commodities group Liberty House is in pole position to buy Tata’s speciality and pipe businesses in a deal that could save close to 2,000 jobs. The Daily Telegraph understands that Liberty House is the frontrunner for the businesses. An agreement to buy Tata’s units based in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Hartlepool could come as early as this week.

Bob Diamond’s hopes of buying the African subsidiary of Barclays — the bank he used to run — have taken another knock after the US private equity group Carlyle pulled out of a consortium with the American former investment banker. A person familiar with the situation said Mr Diamond’s Atlas Merchant Capital investment vehicle remained interested in buying some or all of Barclays’ remaining stake in its African unit even after Carlyle walked away from the potential deal. - Financial Times

Talks on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU may be the most complicated negotiation of all time, the Brexit secretary has said. In a sign of the difficulties already emerging, David Davis said he had been “given 180-degree opposite opinions on some things” in terms of legal advice. - Guardian

The former trader convicted of being the “ringmaster” behind the Libor-rigging scandal has questioned ministers’ plans to introduce a new criminal offence that will hold senior executives at boardroom level liable to prosecution for failing to prevent their staff from committing fraud. Tom Hayes, 36, told The Times that the Serious Fraud Office had not questioned UBS bosses as part of its investigation into manipulation of the benchmark rate that led to his conviction. He said investigators did not seriously pursue anyone else at UBS over the wrongdoing, despite having evidence that it was explicit bank policy. - The Times

An era of rock-bottom interest rates is coming to an end, senior bankers warned last night. Barclays boss Jes Staley and JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said that the rush to a rate rise in the US was gathering pace. - Mail

Channel 4 of the UK will broadcast the next series of The Great British Bake Off in a big blow to the BBC, which lost one of its flagship shows after failing to strike a new deal with the makers of the ratings hit. Love Productions, which produces the unlikely ratings success, announced “with regret” that it had been unable to reach an agreement with the BBC for an eighth season of Bake Off after months of negotiations. -Financial Times

The Bank of England is making pension contributions equivalent to 55 per cent of staff pay to meet mushrooming liabilities caused by its own super-lax monetary policy, a former minister has claimed. Baroness Altmann said that the Bank appeared to be complacent over the effect that quantitative easing was having because its own pensions bill was footed by taxpayers. - The Times

Tamara Mellon is suing her former employer Jimmy Choo amid claims the company set out to sabotage her new venture. The shoe designer, who was awarded an OBE for her services to fashion, co-founded the multi-million-pound luxury brand in the 1990s. - Mail

The accumulated wealth of Britain’s richest 1% is more than 20 times the total of the poorest fifth, making the country one of the most unequal in the developed world, according to analysis by Oxfam. The anti-poverty charity said the figures suggest that the property, pensions and shares owned by around 634,000 of the UK’s richest people are worth 20 times as much as the assets held by the poorest 13 million. - Guardian

Sales of rosé wine have doubled this summer, driven by the thirst for the frozen cocktail frosé and the social media brosé movement sparked by men boasting they are not afraid to “drink pink”. The Indian summer is likely to prolong consumers’ taste for the pink tipple, supermarkets predict, where English wine has been a particular winner as part of a wider increase in sales of wines produced by UK vineyards. - Guardian

The airline entrepreneur who wants to launch £50 one-way budget flights to the United States has accused American officials of being protectionist and claimed that the delay in clearing the new services is unlawful. Norwegian Air’s plan to run ultra-discount services to America from Cork and Shannon airports in Ireland, fed by connecting flights run by Ryanair, has been stalled in Washington for two and a half years, although the planned flights have won the formal support of the American travel trade. - The Times