Employment growth has been robust, business and consumer confidence is above average, the housing market has been strong, and there are signs that the period of business deleveraging is coming to an end (Graph 7). Collectively, these outcomes provide us with some confidence that the economy is now in a reasonably solid upswing.
Graph 7 Unemployment and Business Confidence %  %  Unemployment rate  11  11  9  9  7  7  5  5  %  %  Business confidence*  15  15  0  0  -15  -15  -30  -30  -45 1990  1994  1998  2002  -45 2010  2006  * Net balance; deviation from long-run average Sources: ABS; NAB; RBA  Over the course of this year, the nature of this upswing is, however, likely to change somewhat.