Aero­space indus­try seen as key to Washington’s eco­nom­ic growth, new report says

(The Cen­ter Square) – A new report from the Seat­tle Met­ro­pol­i­tan Cham­ber of Com­merce finds that the aero­space indus­try is a key dri­ver of eco­nom­ic growth in Wash­ing­ton state.
The aero­space indus­try gen­er­at­ed more than $71 bil­lion in busi­ness rev­enues and $19.4 bil­lion in labor income last year, accord­ing to the report. 
The report also found that the aero­space sec­tor direct­ly gen­er­at­ed more than $580 mil­lion in tax rev­enues for the state, includ­ing $173 mil­lion in busi­ness and occu­pa­tion tax­es.
In King Coun­ty alone, retail sales spend­ing by aero­space work­ers gen­er­at­ed just under an esti­mat­ed $270 mil­lion for the local econ­o­my. 
“With 77,400 aero­space employ­ees in the state, over 66,000 at Boe­ing, aero­space gen­er­ates more th …