U.S. stock prices dropped Friday after a government report showed an increase in unemployment in a still-struggling economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial average lost three-quarters of one percent in early trading, the broader S&P 500 index fell nearly a full percentage point and the NASDAQ lost three-quarters of one percent.

European stock prices had shown gains in early trading, but those turned to losses after the poor U.S. unemployment report.

London's Financial Times index was down eight-tenths of one percent in mid-day trading. The CAC-40 in Paris fell 1.3 percent, and trading on the DAX index in Frankfurt is down six-tenths of one percent.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained close to three-quarters of one percent to finish at 10,138.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index soared nearly one percent to finish the day's trading at 22,726.

Gold is trading at $1,542.60 an ounce.

The dollar was nearly unchanged against other major currencies.