Wall Street stocks have surged after the Labor Department reported the US economy added a solid 223,000 jobs in April and unemployment fell to a seven-year low of 5.4 per cent.

At the closing bell on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,188.64, up 264.58 points (1.48 per cent).

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 27.81 (1.33 per cent) to 2,115.81, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 57.13 (1.16 per cent) at 5,002.67.

The April labour data marked a big improvement from March, when the US added just 85,000 jobs. At the same time the US labour market showed some signs of weakness, with wages barely growing and underemployment still elevated.

The jobs data “came in at a sweet spot” for Wall Street, said David Levy, portfolio manager at Kenjol Capital Management.

The report was much better than in March, but “was not so strong as to suggest the Federal Reserve may actually raise rates next month,” he said.