Now that unemployment has topped 10 percent, some liberal-leaning economists see confirmation of their warnings that the $787 billion stimulus package President Obama signed into law last February was way too small. The economy needs a second big infusion, they say.

A deep-seated anxiety about how soon the Federal Reserve will raise rates has caused the widest chasm between short- and long-dated Treasury yields in 20 years.

Gold prices, which have already soared to record levels in recent weeks, could get a further boost from a new investor: central banks.

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.

A U.S. congressional panel on Thursday approved a measure to open the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decisions to government audits, a surprise blow to the central bank's efforts to shield its independence and a signal of frustration with the central bank.

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.

The coroner’s report left no doubt as to the cause of death: toxic loans. That was the conclusion of a financial autopsy that federal officials performed on Haven Trust Bank, a small bank in Duluth, Ga., that collapsed last December, the New York Times reported.

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.

U.S. crude futures fell more than 2 percent Thursday as a stronger dollar weighed and weaker equities raised concern about the economy and a potential rebound in energy demand.