P.M. BRIEFING : GE Aerospace Sets 14% Job Cut

General Electric Aerospace, the nation’s third-largest defense contractor, says it will eliminate 5,600 jobs in the East by 1991, citing Pentagon budget tightening and mounting industry competition.

The cuts amount to nearly 14% of the work force at GE Aerospace, a division of General Electric Co. GE Aerospace, which is based in King of Prussia, Pa., cut its work force by 4,775 last year.

Spokesman Don Norton said the cutbacks will come through layoffs and attrition throughout the division, which has more than a dozen plants, mostly in the Northeast.

Defense spending has been stagnant for the last few years amid public concern over the budget deficit, corruption by defense contractors and the easing of tensions between the United States and the East Bloc.

About 4,000 positions will be eliminated this year, and the remaining 1,600 jobs in 1991, Norton said. By 1992, the aerospace unit will have 35,500 employees, down from 47,000 two years ago.