Getty's government was faced with a combination of a general economic malaise and falling oil prices. The slowdown in the energy sector contributed to a decrease in capital spending, which reduced demand for labour in the construction industry by 50% between 1980 and 1985. Many workers left the province, which suppressed real estate prices and hurt financial institutions; two Albertan banks, the Canadian Commercial Bank and the Northlands Bank, failed in September 1985. Credit unions were facing similar troubles, and the Lougheed government had, in its last days, injected $100 million into the industry.