Europe shares extend losses after US jobless data

European shares extended losses on Friday afternoon after U.S. jobless numbers for September were higher than forecast.

At 1236 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 2.2 percent at 960.46 points, a new low for the day and the lowest in four weeks.

Banks took most points off the index. BNP Paribas, Banco Santander, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Societe Generale, UBS and UniCredit fell between 1 and 7.8 percent.

U.S. employers cut a deeper-than-expected 263,000 jobs in September, lifting the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent, according to a government report that fueled fears the weak labour market could undermine economic recovery.

The Labor Department said the unemployment rate was the highest since June 1983 and payrolls had now dropped for 21 consecutive months.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected non-farm payrolls to drop 180,000 in September.