Small to medium sized businesses are always the first to show signs that the economy might not be as strong as we think. I found out the hard way a couple years ago. It looks like this coming year might not be as bright either.

More than half of U.S. mid-sized companies are not planning to hire over the next 12 months or may lay people off, and fewer than a third of the firms expect strong economic growth, a survey said on Monday.

The news adds to evidence the U.S. economy may not grow as robustly next year as it did last quarter, when gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 3.4 percent.

Not all companies are gloomy about employment — 47 percent expect to hire, according to the survey from CIT and the Economist Intelligence Unit. But 44 percent of mid-sized companies see their workforce size staying the same, and 9 percent forecast a decline.

Of course, you can look at this more positively. 47% say they expect to hire. 44% say they expect to stay the same. That’s 91% that are not forecasting a decline. Yes, as a matter of fact, I have always looked for the silver lining.

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