Study: Defense industry boosts New England economy

BOSTON (AP) — Federal defense and homeland security contracts added $33.9 billion to the New England economy in 2011 — an 85 percent increase from eight years ago, according to a new study from the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute.

Released Monday at a Capitol Hill briefing, the regional study commissioned by the Defense Technology Initiative found that the defense and homeland security industries are highly interconnected among all six New England states and important to the region’s economy.