Housing construction slowdown signals sharp end to boom times

Vancouver

Out of all the skills that construction worker Adam Clark has acquired, the most important was one that he learned from his father, but required no tools.

The good times don't last in construction, Mr Clark's father warned him. Prepare for when things turn. He has been in the business for decades, and seen both good times and bad.

Even though Mr Clark is only 23 and has worked mainly in boom times, he lives by that lesson.

'People used to say money was no object and they just wanted to get the work done no matter what,' said Mr Clark, who works for himself on residential construction, and also on commercial buildings as part of a crew. 'Now, every penny has to be stretched. They want price adjustments downwards. If you want to get a job, you have to really sharpen your pencil.'

The latest employment figures show that British Columbia, which once boasted one of the country's lowest unemployment rates, is facing a painful new reality.