Thursday newspaper round-up: Job vacancies, civil servants, Darktrace

(Sharecast News) - Vacancies for permanent jobs in the UK declined at their fastest pace for four years last month, according to a new survey that adds to the gloomy economic mood. Amid febrile markets and weak economic data, the monthly jobs report from the consultancy KPMG and the recruitment firm REC shows many firms reluctant to hire. - Guardian Rachel Reeves took the rare step of issuing a public statement for the second successive day on Wednesday, insisting she has an "iron grip" on the public finances, as the sell-off in bond markets intensified. The cost of 10-year government borrowing hit its highest level since the global financial crisis in 2008, jeopardising the chancellor's chances of meeting her self-imposed fiscal rules. - Guardian

Thousands of civil servants are to strike "indefinitely" from this month following an order to return to the office for three days a week. Nearly 4,000 staff at HM Land Registry, which is responsible for registering the ownership of property in England and Wales, will refuse to cover for colleagues or take on any extra work which they consider to be beyond their job description from Jan 21. - Telegraph

A Wall Street billionaire who was brought down by his relationship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has become the latest wealthy figure to be linked with a takeover of The Telegraph. Leon Black, who ran the $700bn (£566bn) investment giant Apollo until he was forced out in 2021, is reportedly in talks to back the bid spearheaded by Dovid Efune, the publisher of the New York Sun website. - Telegraph

British cybersecurity group Darktrace has announced the proposed acquisition of Cado Security, a cloud-based security specialist, as it is set to become "more acquisitive" after being taken private last year. The deal is the first acquisition since Darktrace was taken over by Thoma Bravo, the American private equity firm, for £4.4 billion in April last year and is only the second in the company's history. It is subject to regulatory approval with completion expected in February. - The Times