It is "not quite time yet" to raise interest rates in the U.S., Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, told CNBC Thursday.

Banks that are considered too large to fail should be dismantled rather than "coddled," Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said on Thursday.

In another sign that the government's emergency financial programs are being reeled in, the Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction off warrants for three banks that it acquired as part of last fall's bailouts.

US reliance on a growing Chinese economy to continue to spur growth of the American economy could be an ill-fated notion, Bill Gross, Pimco's founder and CEO, told CNBC.

As experts debate the potential speed of the US recovery, one figure looms large but is often overlooked: nearly 1 in 5 Americans is out of work or under-employed.

Additional economic stimulus such as a payroll tax cut would boost hiring, Mike Jackson, the CEO of AutoNation, told CNBC on Thursday.

The Obama administration is promising to change the way it counts the number of jobs saved or created by the economic stimulus program, after the Government Accounting Office revealed measurement flaws in the current system.

Factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region grew in November for a fourth straight month, and faster than expected, a survey showed Thursday.

Federal Reserve officials on Thursday downplayed the consequences of the falling U.S. dollar, underscoring that deflation is still a threat, especially with commercial real estate prices falling.

On Thursday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will issue its bimonthly report on the Recovery Act, and the focus will be squarely on jobs, addressing the accuracy criticisms, while offering recommendations on how to improve the system of reporting. The GAO has determined that the overall number of jobs created or saved is not valid.

"Until you get the small business sector back on its feet and get it vibrant, you are basically knocking out about 20 percent of the GDP," said Camden Fine, president & CEO of Independent Community Bankers of America. "And it's hard to have a robust recovery if you have 20 percent of the GDP lagging."

A senior Federal Reserve official said sluggishness in pockets of the US economy should not deter the Fed from beginning to remove its extraordinary economic support.

The Federal Reserve may rely principally on a largely untested monetary policy tool when the time comes to raise borrowing costs.

Industrial production edged up 0.1 percent in October, a smaller-than-expected increase that signals a bumpy recovery ahead.

U.S. producer prices rose more slowly than expected in October despite a rebound in food and energy costs, according to a government report on Tuesday that pointed to tame inflation pressures.