New unemployment numbers have just been released and they are fairly grim. Employers faced with declining sales eliminated 598,000 jobs in January, the most since the end of 1974. As the unemployment rate jumps to 7.6 percent with no end in sight, we turn to Jim Ellis, assistant managing editor at BusinessWeek to help parse the numbers.

For more information, here is the New York Times report on the numbers, 598,000 Jobs Lost as Jobless Rate Hit 7.6% in January.

In the latest indication of plummeting corporate confidence, companies in almost every industry from construction to pharmaceuticals have announced massive job cuts worldwide. The Takeaway talks to Jim Ellis, assistant managing editor at Business Week for a preview of what's to come.

Faced with the same economic crisis currently gripping the rest of the globe, Britain has unveiled an economic stimulus plan of its own, with some striking similarities and differences compared to the American plan. The U.K. package offers cuts in the sales tax to spur spending among middle and low-income earners and raises the tax rate on the wealthy. The Takeaway also examines the short and long-term implications of President-elect Obama's recently-announced stimulus plan.

Last week's whipsawing stock market and steady march of gloomy economic indicators were enough to make anyone's head spin. BusinessWeek's Jim Ellis helps The Takeaway start off the week with a clear sense of just where the economy is going, and what it's likely to mean for our everyday lives.