World stock markets slid Monday, dragged by global economic angst after an unexpectedly weak U.S. jobs report and surging inflation in China, AP reported. Wall Street's sharp drop before the weekend extended to Asia and Europe, where investors digested news that U.S. employers created the fewest number of jobs in nine months. The 18,000 net jobs in created in June were a fraction of what many economists expected and dampened hopes that the economy is improving. "Economic news in the U.S. was disappointing," said a Barclays Capital report Monday. "The employment report was weaker than expected across the board - employment, unemployment, hours, and wages all reflected the same worrisome trend." As trading got under way in Europe, France's CAC 40 was off 1.3 percent at 3,861.08 and Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.2 percent to 5,976.79. Germany's DAX shed 0.9 percent to 7,337.62. Wall Street was also set for losses with Dow futures down 0.7 percent at 12,529. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average lost 0.7 percent to 10,069.53 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 1.7 percent to 22,347.23. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.1 percent to 2,157.16 while the Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.2 percent to 2,802.69. Also dragging sentiment was data released Saturday showing China's inflation accelerated to a three-year high in June even as the overheated economy began to cool. Consumer prices rose 6.4 percent over a year ago, a sharp jump from May's 5.5 percent rate, China's government said Saturday. Communist leaders declared taming prices their priority this year, but they have been frustrated amid inflation's steady rise. In Australia, the government's new carbon tax proposal battered stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.6 percent to 4,582.30.
