LONDON, June 1: European stock markets slumped again and the euro hit a 23-month low versus the dollar on Friday on poor US jobs data in the wake of weak economic news from China and the eurozone, traders said.

Early losses deepened after the Labor Department said the US economy only added a meager 69,000 jobs in May, pushing the unemployment rate up to 8.2 per cent.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index closed down 1.14 per cent at 5,260.19 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 tumbled 3.42 per cent to 6,050.29 points and in Paris the CAC 40 dropped 2.21 per cent to 2,950.47 points.

The euro dived at one point to $1.2288, a low last seen on July 1, 2010, before recovering to $1.2389 dollars, up from $1.2361 late on Thursday.

The dollar bought 78.17 yen, down from 78.33 on Thursday.

The closely watched US workforce figures were well below expectations of a 150,000 jobs increase and for the jobless rate to hold steady at 8.1 per cent. The data showed that a nascent recovery in the job market had stalled. In the first quarter, the average number of new jobs was 226,000, while in April and May, the average fell to 73,000. —AFP