LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares declined on Friday, with losses accelerating after a weaker-than-expected key U.S. employment report. After trading with milder losses through the session, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index (ST:SXXP 233.82, -4.80, -2.01%) dropped 2.1% to 233.40 after the data. Economic data haven't generally impressed investors in the last few weeks and Friday's job report from the U.S. was also downbeat. The U.S. labor market weakened in September as 263,000 payroll jobs were lost and the unemployment rate rose a tenth to a 26-year high of 9.8%, the Labor Department reported. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a smaller payroll loss of 167,000. See full story. "Concerns around the current economic climate are beginning to re-emerge with a number of economic indicators beginning to turn down again," said Stephen Taylor, strategist at Dolmen Stockbrokers. Miners, leveraged to prospects for an improving economy, put in a worse performance than the overall index, their shares suffering a 3.1% slide. Individual companies under pressure included diversified mining group Rio Tinto (UK:RIO 2,473, -103.00, -3.10%) (RTP 156.85, -6.63, -4.06%) , down 3.8% and copper miner Vedanta Resources (UK:VED 1,857, -85.00, -4.36%) , down 4.4%. Shares of Anglo-Swiss mining firm Xstrata (UK:XTA 822.00, -48.50, -5.56%) also declined, off 5.5%. The U.K.'s takeover watchdog has given Xstrata until Oct. 20 to make a bid for rival Anglo American (UK:AAL 1,869, -18.50, -0.98%) or walk away. Anglo American shares declined 1%. See full story. At the regional level, the French CAC-40 index (FR:PX1 3,644, -76.84, -2.07%) declined 2.1% to 3,643.54, the German DAX index (DX:DAX 5,464, -90.09, -1.62%) fell 1.8% to 5,455.63 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 4,976, -71.42, -1.42%) fell 1.3% to 4,981.15, moving back below the key 5,000 level. U.S. stock futures were sharply lower. See Asia Markets. See Indications. Banks were also under pressure, shares of French bank Natixis (FR:KN 3.78, -0.27, -6.54%) down 7.5% and Commerzbank (DE:CBK 7.73, -0.61, -7.31%) shares down 8.6% Other notable decliners in Europe to close out the trading week included Dutch printer maker Oce (NL:OCE 4.06, -0.27, -6.23%) , down 6.7%. The firm said that third-quarter net loss widened to 25.7 million euros ($37.4 million) from 24.2 million euros a year ago and that European markets had weakened further from the first half of the year. It expects markets to remain challenging in the fourth quarter. Also lower, shares of Renewable Energy Corp. (NO:REC 42.87, -4.23, -8.99%) lost 8.5%. The company said that it intends to issue a 300 million euro ($436 million) convertible bond to institutional investors, due in June 2014. The company said the proceeds will strengthen its finances and will be used for general corporate purposes. And shares of Carlsberg (UK:0AI4 341.00, -15.50, -4.35%) (DE:CBGB 45.60, -2.95, -6.08%) fell 5.6%, retreating after the Copenhagen-based brewer was downgraded to sell from hold by Deutsche Bank analysts, who cited risks of beer tax and alcohol regulation in Russia. "Russia seems to be gearing up for a battle against alcohol, a major cause of relatively low life expectancy and a declining population," the analysts wrote in a note to clients.

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