U.S. stock indexes fell sharply in midday trading Friday after the government reported that the American economy added no new jobs in August.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 key stocks is down 1.8 percent, while the broader S&P 500 is off 2.1 percent. The technology-laden NASDAQ is down 2.2 percent.

European stocks fell sharply.

London's Financial Times index dropped 2.3 percent to end at 5,292. The CAC-40 in Paris lost 3.6 percent to finish at 3,149. The DAX index in Frankfurt finished down 3.4 percent at 5,538.

Earlier, in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost 1.2 percent to finish at 8,951.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1.8 percent to finish the day's trading at 20,213.

Gold is trading up $46.25 at $1,872.40 an ounce.

The dollar is trading up against the euro, but down against the yen.