Current compensation conditions

[Michael ODonnell]

I might be invited to join a team of developers on what they're calling a 
"contract" basis (tho it'd actually be a W2 rather than 1099 relationship; 
hourly, no benefits) and they've asked me to quote a rate.  As it's been 
a while since I've had to dance this dance I wonder what other people 
are seeing in the market WRT compensation trends - have the generally 
depress{ed,ing} economic conditions affected engineering budgets to the 
extent that it ought be considered a major factor when quoting rates?