LONDON (AP) — World stock markets fell sharply Thursday after worse than expected U.S. jobs data reined in investor hopes of a swift end to recession.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 106.44 points, or 2.5 percent, to 4,234.27 while Germany's DAX fell 186.95 points, or 3.8 percent, to 4,718.49. The CAC-40 in France was 100.59 points, or 3.1 percent, lower at 3,116.41.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 176.84 points, or 2.1 percent, at 8,327.22 around midday New York time while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 20.90 points, or 2.3 percent, to 902.43.

Early selling pressure was amplified by the news from the U.S. Labor Department that the U.S. economy shed 467,000 jobs in June, nearly 100,000 more than anticipated, and way more than the 322,000 decline in May.

June's jobless figures brought an end to a run of five straight months of improvements and dampened expectations that the U.S. economy was poised for a strong recovery soon.

Though the headline payrolls number fell by more than anticipated, the unemployment rate did not rise as much as expected but still hit a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. Some economists were predicting it would rise to 9.7 percent.

Nevertheless, the headline payrolls data weighed on markets as it provided ample evidence to investors that any recovery will be a long, hard slog.

"The heavy loss of jobs in June is a warning that the road to recovery will be bumpy, but doesn't yet indicate that we have gone off the track," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.