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.

As a result of the wave of job losses, we are about to hit a milestone in gender roles in that women will soon hold more payroll jobs than men. Catherine Rampell, who writes about economics at the New York Times, is here to talk about what this shift will mean in the lives of American families.

For further information, read Catherine Rampell's article, As Layoffs Surge, Women May Pass Men in Job Force, in today's New York Times.

Brandeis University has been hit hard by the economic downturn. The University’s endowment has dropped by 23 percent, staff positions are being slashed and scholarships are on the line. But an announcement by President Jehudah Reinharz that Brandeis will close its Rose Art Museum and sell off 6,000 works has sparked outrage. Is it a case of hard decisions for hard times or have Brandeis trustees gone too far? The Takeaway talks to Jonathan Lee, chairman of the board of overseers at Rose Art Museum.

The United States economy shrank at its fastest pace in 26 years from October through December. The grim GDP numbers reflect the toll of the credit crisis, but aren't quite as dismal as economists had predicted. For more, we talk to John Authers, Investment Editor for the Financial Times.

Washington (okay, we might be too) is obsessed with stimulus plans and bailouts. But in this Sunday's magazine, the New York Times' David Leonhardt argues that the U.S. economy will eventually recover. David Leonhardt joins us to discuss how quickly the economy should grow as it bounces back.

We’ve all heard about how the recession is hitting everyone and everything from automakers to coffee houses. But what about the manufacturers of luxury items? The gold-plated toilets. The private jets. The luxury aquariums. As we take a look at luxury in the downturn, we are joined by K.C. Carter. He’s the financier behind Acrylic Tank Manufacturing in Las Vegas.