Shares tumble worldwide

LONDON, Sept 6 (AFP) World stock markets tumbled Friday on growing gloom for the global economy after the United States recorded unemployment at a five-year high, dealers said. brThe London FTSE 100 blue chip index was down 2.26 per cent at 5,240.70 points at the close, its third fall of more than two per cent in as many days. brIn Paris the CAC 40 index fell 2.49 per cent to 4,196.66 points, after dropping more than 3.0 per cent Thursday. The DAX in Frankfurt shed 2.42 per cent to close at 6,127.44 points after losing 2.91 per cent Thursday. brMarkets can be said to be cheap if we could rely on the high growth in profits to which investors have grown accustomed, said Claudia Starr, strategist at Edison Investment Research. brHowever, as the global business cycle veers towards recession, corporate earnings will continue to be under pressure from weak top line growth. brBattered Wall Street shares fell further meanwhile Friday as the news of a jump in US unemployment prompted renewed talk of recession in the world's biggest economy. brThe Labor Department said the US unemployment rate jumped to a five- year high of 6.10 per cent as 84,000 jobs were slashed in August. brThat screams recession, said John Ryding at RDQ Economics. brOn Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.34 per cent to 11,150.04 around 1600 GMT, after heavy losses Thursday. brThe Nasdaq composite declined 0.84 per cent to 2,240.08 and the broad- market Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 0.56 per cent to 1,229.92. brThe labour market's troubles dim prospects for growth in the second and third quarters, said Ryan Sweet at Economy.com. brThe acceleration in layoffs confirms Wall Street's fears that the economy is weakening, if not contracting, and additional hurdles need to be overcome. brTokyo closed down 2.75 per cent to hit the lowest level in almost six months. brHong Kong closed down 2.2 per cent Friday and Shanghai shed 3.29 per cent. brGeopolitical tensions also played their part elsewhere as Russian share prices plunged, reflecting concerns close to home including tensions with the West over Georgia, as well as nervousness on global markets, analysts said. brRussia's main RTS stock market index closed down 3.72 per cent on the day to 1469.15, after dropping more than seven per cent earlier in the day. brThe RTS has fallen about 20 per cent since August 7, the start of fighting in neighbouring Georgia, and has shed more than a third of its value since the beginning of the year.