Mid-Size Companies Could Account For 70 Percent Of US Job Growth This Year

The nearly 200,000 middle market U.S. companies -- those with revenues between $10 million and $1 billion -- could account for 70 percent of all U.S. job growth this year, the National Center for the Middle Market said on Wednesday.

The latest Middle Market Indicator (MMI), produced jointly by Ohio State University and GE Capital (NYSE:GE), showed that about 43 percent of all so-called middle market companies believe they will hire within the next 12 months.

If employment growth by these firms follows projections, the middle market will generate more than 70 percent of new U.S. employment this year.

“With a developing sense of confidence, executives are beginning to reinvest in their businesses and hire additional staff,” GE Capital CEO of the Americas Dan Henson said in a statement.

Forty-eight percent of executives from midsize businesses felt confident about the global economy, up from 22 percent last year.

Midsize companies currently account for about a third of U.S. private GDP and more than a third of U.S. jobs.

However, difficulties containing credit and health care costs could occur when Obamacare is implemented, the center said earlier this month.

GE Capital has embarked on an advertising campaign in recent months for its midsize commercial lending business.