The latest US non-farm payrolls show that 165,000 jobs were created last month. Economists had been predicting a figure closer to 145,000.
The US Labour Department also revised its figures for March and February upwards. The February number was revised up to 332,000, the best monthly gain since May 2010.
The unemployment rate is now at a four-year low of 7.5%.
The drop in the unemployment rate reflected an increase in employment, rather than people leaving the workforce.
March non-farm payrolls were revised upwards by 50,000 to 138,000.
Joe Manimbo, market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions, said the numbers were "surprisingly positive".
"This shows the job market and the economy in general appear to be more resilient than investors had feared," he added.
'Uneven' labour market
But some analysts felt the details behind the headline numbers still pointed to a economy that continues to struggle. Construction employment fell and the payrolls in the manufacturing sector remained flat.
Tom Porcelli, US economist at RBC Capital Markets, saw a more mixed picture in the figures.
"A couple of things drive this home, namely average weekly earnings are down and aggregate hours. Those are more forward looking metrics and how it will unfold in the fourth quarter that is not encouraging," he said.
"This report confirms that the labour market backdrop remains very much uneven."
The US dollar gained more than 1% against the Japanese yen, hitting 99.18 yen. The euro lost 0.1% against the greenback, falling to $1.3059. Before the payroll numbers were released, it had been trading higher against the dollar.
Spot gold fell 0.4% immediately after the release of the figures, to $1,460.11 an ounce.
So, some previous numbers were revised upwards and April was a very strong month. Good to see the US is recovering well, this should help the global recovery.
