* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 1 percent
* U.S. jobless data sparks turnaround
* Telecoms among major gainers
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By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - European shares rose to a nine-month high on Friday afternoon, reversing losses, after unemployment in the United States rose less than expected in July.
At 1309 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1 percent at 947.72, the high for the day, having been as low as 926.91.
Telecoms were major gainers. Vodafone, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom were up between 1.6 and 3.4 percent.
U.S. employers cut 247,000 jobs in July, far less than expected and the least in any month since last August, according to a government report on Friday that provided the clearest evidence yet that the economy may be turning around.
With fewer workers being laid off, the unemployment rate eased to 9.4 percent in July from 9.5 percent the prior month, the Labor Department said, the first time the jobless rate had fallen since April 2008.
The government revised job losses for May and June to show 43,000 fewer jobs lost than previously reported.
"The U.S. economy is clawing its way out of recession as non-farm payroll and unemployment rate numbers come in better than expected. Coupled with the recent spate of positive corporate earnings, the worst of the recession could well be behind us," said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital.
Futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up between 1 and 1.5 percent, having been flat just before the data.
The European benchmark index is up more than 46 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, as investors have become more confident on the prospects of recovery.
Banks, which weighed heavily on the index in the morning, were also mostly in positive territory.
BNP Paribas, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank were up between 1.8 and 3.2 percent.
Royal Bank of Scotland was down 12 percent after reporting a first-half loss.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent; Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 were up 1.4 and 0.9 percent respectively. (Editing by David Cowell)