U.S. stocks started a traditionally healthy month on strong footing on Friday with solid jobs figures, but the S&P 500 may need help to break to new multi-year highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 56.99 points, or 0.46 percent, to close unofficially at 12,376.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 6.58 points, or 0.50 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,332.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 8.53 points, or 0.31 percent, to end unofficially at 2,789.60.

For the week, the Dow was up 1.3 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.7 percent. (Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Jan Paschal)