Stocks on Wall Street closed higher yesterday in lacklustre trading ahead of the US holiday weekend. Investors' recent optimism was only slightly dampened by conflicting economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.68, or 0.2 per cent, to close at 11,238.78.

Broader stock indicators were also higher. The Nasdaq Composite, which also rose more than 100 points on Thursday, was up 27.98 to close at 4,234.33. The Standard and Poor's 500 was up 3.09 at 1,520.77 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 4 at 541.89.

Unemployment and productivity figures released yesterday sent mixed signals, but seemed to indicate that inflationary pressures are under control.

The Labour Department reported that the unemployment rate edged up to 4.1 per cent in August and total payrolls fell by a bigger-than-expected 105,000 during the month, the largest drop in nine years.