The U.S. unemployment rate is now 7.2%, the highest since 1993. Scott Paul, of the Alliance for American Manufacturing; Steve Grasso, of Stuart Frankel; and the CNBC news team discuss.

American Public Education is that rare company that can genuinely benefit from unemployment, says Cramer.

Assessing whether job losses have hit bottom, with Tig Gilliam, Adecco Group North America CEO; Brian Bethune, Global Insight U.S. economist; and CNBC's Melissa Francis.

A look at the business of show biz, with Michael Goodridge, Screen International U.S. editor

The fighting in Gaza continued this week, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an "immediate" and "durable" ceasefire. David Hartwell from Jane's Information Group spoke to CNBC.

Wall Street's meltdown has taken away peace of mind for millions of public sector workers, with Richard Ferlauto, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) director, pensions/benefits and Sean Egan, Egan-Jones Ratings Company president

Futures indicate a negative open for the US stock market Friday. But if the December jobs report is worse than expected, Vince Farrell, CIO at Soleil Securities Group, sees the market initially shaky on the news, but recovering later in the day. He sees the economy recovering in the second half of '09.

Ahead of the December US nonfarm payrolls data Friday, Vince Farrell from Soleil Securities Group sees a bearish 600,000 jobs lost in the US. While Peter Cardillo from Avalon Partners is less pessimistic, with a prediction of 450,000 jobs lost.

Boeing has lost its title as the biggest plane maker to Airbus after reporting a 50% drop in orders. But this should not be weighted too heavily. Nicholas Ionides, regional managing editor, Asia at Flight International tells CNBC's Chloe Cho why.

The big picture of the state of American employment, with Jonathan Tasini, executive director at the Labor Research Association, and Charles Biderman, of Trim Tabs Investment Research