At 16.15 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had risen 34.4 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 4,280.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 34.3 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 4,361.6 points.
On the ASX 24, the June share price index futures contract was 34 points higher at 4,289 points, with 23,319 contracts traded, according to preliminary calculations.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed that the unemployment rate was steady at 5.2 per cent in March from February, which was better than expected.
However, some analysts said the trend in employment growth remained weak.
"The jobs figure was better than expected, so that's definitely contributing to it (the rise in the share market),'' CMC Markets sales trader Ben Taylor said.
He said indications that the European Central Bank may start buying bonds to support debt-laden contries in the eurozone was also putting some momentum behind the local market.
Mr Taylor said that there was not a great level of interest in the Australian market at the moment but every daily gain helped build momentum.
"Given the volatility and the lack of people trading at the moment, I think it's going to take quite a lot before you see mum and dad investors dipping their toes back in the water," he said.
On the lcal market, Ten Network Holdings lifted two cents to 78 cents despite reporting a sharp plunge in first half net profit that came in below market expectations.
In the resources sector, minerals sands miner Iluka was steady at $17.27 after its production and revenue fell in the first quarter of 2012.
Laos-focused miner PanAust climbed 16 cents to $3.13.
PanAust reaffirmed its 2012 production targets after exceeding its expectations at its flagship copper mine in the three months to March.
Shares in Flinders Mines were in a trading halt pending the outcome of court action aimed at preventing the iron ore explorer's $554 million takeover by a Russian steel maker. Flinders last traded at 22 cents.
MEO Australia rose 3.5 cents to 34 cents after the oil and gas explorer said it had received interest from prospective customers to buy methanol from its Timor Sea project.
Global miner BHP Billiton was 31 cents higher at $33.90 and Rio Tinto added 94 cents to $64.46.
Among the major banks, National Australia Bank lifted 28 cents to $24.58, Westpac improved 15 cents to $22.05, ANZ advanced 21 cents to $22.98, and Commonwealth Bank picked up 16 cents at $49.76.
Toll road owner Macquarie Atlas was two cents richer at $1.685 after it said it expected more European and American motorists to use its toll roads.
On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose 89.46 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 12,805.39 points boosted by alumina producer Alcoa's surprise quarterly profit and easing bond yields in Spain and Italy.
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