Europe shares rise in choppy trade after US data

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.6 percent
                                
 * Non-farm payrolls in line but unemployment rate worries
                                
 * Financials top losers; commodities limit index losses
                                
 
                                
 LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - European shares rose in volatile
trade on Friday after U.S. non-farm job losses came in along
expected lines and the unemployment rate hit a 25-year high.
                                
 At 1447 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was up 0.6 percent at 675.20 points, having
risen nearly 1 percent to a day high of 676.90 after the data
was released.
                                
 The index has been experiencing wild swings throughout the
session, also having hit a fresh 12-year low of 660.90 earlier
in the day.
                                
 U.S. shares <.SPX> <.DJI> <.IXIC> were up 0.7 percent to 0.9
percent in early trade.
                                
 Commodity stocks were the best performers, with Royal Dutch
Shell <RDSa.AS>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Total <TOTF.PA> and BP
<BP.L> adding 2-7.4 percent, as copper futures gained nearly 3
percent and crude rose $1.60 a barrel to above $45.
                                
    U.S. employers axed 651,000 jobs in February, pushing the
unemployment rate to 8.1 percent, its highest level in 25 years,
according to government data, as companies buckled under the
strain of a recession that is showing no signs of ending.
[nN06382576]
                                
 U.S. employers axed 651,000 jobs in February, pushing the
unemployment rate to 8.1 percent, its highest level in 25 years
as companies buckled under the strain of a recession that is
showing no signs of ending, according to a government report.
[nN06382576]
                                
 While that figure was near economists' expectations for a
648,000 drop in non-farm payrolls, January and December job
losses were revised sharply higher.
                                
  Darren Winder, equity strategist at Cazenove, said that the
figures showed only that the U.S. economy continued to be weak.
                                
 "For people who track weekly claims, this is in line with
the trend we've had recently, and there's no evidence to suggest
that Q1 is weaker than Q4 -- it's just as weak."
                                
 Other analysts pointed to the unemployment rate as a source
of concern.
                                
 "This was the day when non-farm payroll had been rumoured in
London hours to be as bad as -1 million," Stephen Pope, chief
global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, wrote in a note.
                                
 "It was not that bad ... but the jump in unemployment was
extraordinary."
                                
 Financials were the biggest decliners on the European index,
with BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> down 6 percent, Societe Generale
<SOGN.PA> slipping 7 percent and Credit Agricole <CAGR.PA>
slumping 9 percent.
                                
 Insurers were also hit hard. Friends Provident <FP.L>
slumped 12 percent, Aviva <AV.L> was down 8 percent and Standard
Life <SL.L> lost 5.9 percent.
 (Reporting by Sitaraman Shankar; editing by Karen Foster)