LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - A mixed U.S. jobs report kept up pressure on already sharply lower stock markets on Friday and set Wall Street up for losses.
U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 20,000 jobs in January, but the unemployment rate surprisingly fell to a five-month low of 9.7 percent, according the Labor Department.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls gaining 5,000 and the unemployment rate to edge up to 10.1 percent.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down 1.6 percent on the day after lurching 2 percent lower after the data.
Global shares were at three-month lows and the euro earlier hit a an eight-month low against the dollar on worries about euro zone sovereign debt problems.