Austal launched Tuesday the recently christened USNS Brunswick, the Australian shipbuilder's sixth joint high-speed vessel in a $1.6 billion, 10-ship contract.

The milestone also marked the second U.S. Navy ship launched at Austal USA's Mobile shipyard in less than three months.

The 338-foot Brunswick will now undergo final outfitting and testing before sea trials and delivery to the U.S. Navy before the close of 2015.

MONTGOMERY - Governor Robert Bentley on Friday announced that Alabama's preliminary, seasonally adjusted April unemployment rate is 5.8%.

"Alabama's April unemployment rate has some positive numbers about the economy," Governor Robert Bentley said. "The number of people in the labor force is up, the number of people employed is up, wage and salary employment is up, and the number of job orders posted on JobLink is up. Our economic development efforts will continue until every Alabamian who wants a job has the opportunity to find one."

The Civilian Labor Force (CLF) increased in April by 12,214, while the number of people counted as employed increased by 10,019.