
The U.S. aerospace and defense industry showed solid growth in 2018, contributing $929 billion in economic output, up 7 percent from $865 billion in 2017, supporting gains in job growth as well, according to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). Jobs in the industry grew to 2.5 million in 2018, up 4 percent from 2.4 million in 2017, AIA says in an initial look at the state of the industry released on Thursday. A final report will be released this fall.…