Europe: Shares dip ahead of US jobs data

[PARIS] European stocks dipped on Friday, with regional indexes pausing just below multi-year highs hit recently, as investors awaited the US non-farm payrolls report for January due later in the session.

At 0803 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.3 per cent at 1,483.49 points.

Economists polled by Reuters expected US employers to have taken on 234,000 workers in January, below December's increase of 252,000.

The jobless rate was expected to remain at a 6-1/2-year low of 5.6 per cent, while average hourly earnings were forecast to show a rise of 0.3 per cent following the previous month's fall of 0.2 per cent.

REUTERS