Pay rose 1.5%. Prices rose faster.

FROM THE DESK OF FADI MALOUF | NOVEMBER 2026

Pay for the typical full time worker in the United States was 1.5% higher in the third quarter than a year earlier. Prices rose faster. That is from the latest earnings release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The release covers 122.2 million full time wage and salary workers. Most of them work for someone else's company. Some of them work for yours, and every one of them feels it at checkout.

Here is my read. The typical worker took a real pay cut over the past year. The paycheck went up. What it buys went down.

Most owners will read that as an economy story. I read it as a retention story, and it is sitting in your payroll right now.

I have owned companies since 1999. When pay falls behind prices, good people start taking recruiter calls. The ones who leave first are the ones other owners want, and those are the people who hold your business together.

When a paycheck buys less than it did a year ago, loyalty gets tested. Your best manager does not need to be unhappy to leave. They need one better offer, and a squeeze like this one makes better offers easier to say yes to.

A buyer sees the same risk. In diligence, one of the first questions after the numbers is who makes them happen. If the answer is three people with no agreement and no reason to stay, the buyer prices in the day they walk.

A retention bonus, a clear title or a small share of the profit they create can each change that answer.

An operator in motion knows which two or three people hold the business together and gives them a reason to stay before a competitor gives them a reason to go. The one standing still finds out at the exit interview. If one resignation would cost you a client, then that person is part of your price.

$1,232.

That is the median weekly pay of a full time wage and salary worker in the third quarter of 2026, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For illustration, $1,232 times 52 weeks is about $64,000 a year.

What it means for an owner. That is the floor a buyer subtracts for your seat. Someone who can run your business costs more. If your cash flow minus a real salary for your job leaves little behind, you own a job, not an asset.

One sheet, this week.

Column one: the three people whose resignation would hurt revenue fastest.

Column two: the reason each one has to stay, in writing.

Every blank in column two is a discount a buyer will take off your price. Fill one blank before Friday.

If the owner seat and a few key people are the gap in your business, find out where you stand.

Take the FM Advisory Quiz

Forward motion,

Fadi

This communication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, financial instruments, or investment products. FM Enterprises and Fadi Malouf do not provide legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. Any business, acquisition, or capital related discussion is subject to further review, appropriate due diligence, and applicable professional guidance.