By most published measures the United States economy is thriving. Unemployment has dropped to 5.6 percent, the lowest rate since June 2008, while nominal disposable income has risen by a whopping 61 percent since 2000. Gross Domestic Product is at $17 trillion, up a full $2 trillion since 2010, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has broken all-time records. Based on those numbers, an outside observer would think American business is booming, especially in sectors like golf and leisure travel, which tend to thrive during periods of high employment and increased wealth creation.

But those observers would likely be confused. At the same time that unemployment is at a seven-year low, the total number of Americans not in the work force sits at a record 92 million, more than the entire population of 190 countries, including every nation in Europe. And median household incomes are lower now than in 1999 despite millions of college-educated millennials entering their late-20s and early-30s.

So, what’s the real story? And where does golf fit in the nation’s current economic picture?

According to the most recent U.S. Labor Department statistics, for the middle 60 percent of the population (a segment that includes households with incomes between $18,000 and $95,000 a year, the sweet-spot market for growing the game), overall spending since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008 has increased by only 2.3 percent, while compound inflation has grown by 12 percent. At the same time, income in this group has grown by little more than one-half of 1 percent.

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Golf in “Middle America” has been struggling for the last 8 years. Is there an end in sight?

Source: Steve Eubanks Golfbusiness.com

Pictures: David Hilgart   Phil Sexton

Thanks for reading – Is the Game of Golf Growing – We must take action now!

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