Wall Street stocks rose early Friday after US data showed unexpectedly strong jobs growth and estimated unemployment at a 49-year low.

The New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. (Photo: AP)

About 30 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.5 percent at 26,441.80.

The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 0.5 percent to 2,935.39, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index surged 0.9 percent to 8,109.94.

The US economy added 263,000 net new positions in April, well above the 200,000 forecast by analysts.

Unemployment fell two tenths to 3.6 percent but the decline was in part because the pool of workers shrank and fewer people were looking for jobs, pulling them out of the labor force, the Labor Department reported.

The strong jobs data refocused the market after two straight down days prompted by comments on inflation from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that suggested there would be no interest rate cuts anytime soon -- a sentiment reinforced by the new on the labor market.

Amazon jumped 2.4 percent after Warren Buffett disclosed that Berkshire Hathaway had purchased shares of the online retail giant.

Activision Blizzard fell 4.3 percent after the video game developer on disappointment over its profit forecasts. Rival company Electronic Arts shed 3.2 percent.