Charlotte Talks: PGA Championship Plays Through / Paychecks Aren't Rising As Fast As Hoped

Published August 7, 2017 at 9:00 AM EDT

Monday, August 7, 2017

Charlotte’s first-ever golf major is about to tee off. We’ve hosted pro golf for years, but the PGA Championship is being called “the big leagues.” Guest host Erik Spanberg talks with golf reporters, then checks in on the economy and what's holding back wages.

PART ONE

Some of the top names in professional golf are about to join an estimated 200,000 spectators in Charlotte for the PGA Championship. It’s our first time hosting a golf major, and although pro golf is nothing new for the Quail Hollow Club, the Championship will take the golf scene to an elite level. “This is the big leagues,” says Johnny Harris, Quail Hollow’s president.

The Championship set records for ticket sales and the hospitality needs that come with hosting a major.

What makes this event so different than any other Charlotte has seen? How did Charlotte land this prestigious stop on the PGA Tour? And is this the first of many trips to “the big leagues” for Charlotte?

GUESTS

Ron Green, Jr., writer, Global Golf Post; former Charlotte Observer sports writer (@RonGreenJr)

Jaime Diaz, senior writer, Golf Digest; editor-in-chief, Golf World (@JaimeDiaz24)

PART TWO

The recovery from the Great Recession is nearing the ten-year mark, and Friday’s jobs report was another example of that recovery. It showed an 82^nd consecutive month of job growth, and the unemployment rate fell to a level that economists consider full employment. Meanwhile, the Dow, for the first time, cracked the 22,000 mark.

Average hourly wages rose by nine cents in July, according to the Labor Department. Economists aren't sure why wage growth has been sluggish in the economic recovery.

There’s another area of the jobs report that touches on a part of the economic recovery that has confounded economists: wage growth, or more accurately the weakness of that growth. Friday’s report said average hourly wages grew by nine cents in July, and average earnings are up 2.5 percent compared to a year ago. But economists say wages should be rising at a faster pace.

If stocks are booming, what’s holding your paycheck back? What has to change for wages to pick up?

GUESTS

Matthew Martin, regional executive, Federal Reserve of Richmond

Tim Quinlan, senior economist, Wells Fargo