Falling miners drag Europe stocks to one-week low

* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.4 pct; extends Thursday's selloff

* Miners pace the decline, falling along with metals

* Index on track to record third straight week of losses

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]

By Blaise Robinson

PARIS, July 3 (Reuters) - European shares dropped 0.4 percent in early trade on Friday, adding to the previous session's selloff triggered by downbeat U.S. jobs data, as mining shares fell along with metal prices.

French utility EDF (EDF.PA) was Europe's biggest loser, down 4.3 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the stock to "equal weight" from "overweight", while both UBS and Citigroup trimmed their price target on the stock.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was down 0.4 percent at 839.95 points. The index tumbled 2.6 percent on Thursday after data showed U.S. employers shed nearly half a million jobs in June and the unemployment rate surged to 9.5 percent, the highest in nearly 26 years.

"Payrolls were a wake-up call," said Jacques Henry, analyst at Louis Capital Markets, in Paris.

"The data showed that the economic recovery remains fragile and more downbeat data is to be expected, particularly on the jobs front. Stocks are ripe for a consolidation period."

Rio Tinto (RIO.L) was down 2 percent, BHP Billiton (BLT.L) down 1.6 percent and Xstrata (XTA.L) fell 1.1 percent.

France Telecom (FTE.PA) lost 1 percent after UBS downgraded its recommendation on the stock to "sell" from "neutral".

"Short term valuation could offer support, but competition leaves shares expensive in the medium term and with higher risks in our view," UBS analysts wrote in a note.

Banking shares were mixed, with HSBC (HSBA.L) up 1.1 percent, Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) up 1 percent and Commerzbank (CBKG.DE) up 3.7 percent, while Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) was down 1.1 percent and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) shed 1 percent.

Pharma stocks, seen as defensive plays, were on the upside, with Roche (ROG.VX) up 0.5 percent, Sanofi Aventis (SASY.PA) up 1.2 percent and AstraZeneca (AZN.L) up 0.6 percent.