I recall 5-6 years ago there was quite a slump in jobs, but 5-6 years ago I was just starting college so I was oblivious to what was going on, however I had heard about it at many places.

And obviously there's the recession that we are in now (although I've been told things have been getting better).

So what's the job outlook for programmers right "now"? Good? Bad? Average? When I was looking for a job 2 months ago I "saw" quite a bit of job openings near my city, but that could've just been me living in a lucky "growing" area.