Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush will meet with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke tomorrow as he considers whether to announce a new economic stimulus package amid slowing growth.

Bush will speak to reporters tomorrow after a 1 p.m. meeting at the White House with members of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, press secretary Dana Perino said today.

``It will be a number of weeks before the president makes a decision'' on a stimulus package, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. ``There will be some additional data coming in the next few weeks, and the president has said he won't make any decisions until it gets much closer to the State of the Union'' address on Jan. 28.

The meeting tomorrow will come hours after the Labor Department's December employment figures, which economists anticipate will show a weaker pace of job gains and higher unemployment. Reports in the past week showed a contraction in manufacturing and the weakest new home sales in 12 years.

The administration ``will do what we think is appropriate to continue to foster economic growth,'' Ed Gillespie, senior counselor to the president, told reporters Jan. 1. ``There's more to be done, we think, on the housing front to address concerns people have.''

First Meeting

This will be the first time in his presidency that Bush has met with all members of the financial working group, Fratto said. Normally, Paulson briefs the president on the group's activities, he said. The team meets formally about once a month, Fratto added.

The gathering includes Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox and Walter Lukken, acting head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and comes before a Bush statement on the economy Jan. 7.

Bush is scheduled to meet with business leaders in Chicago before the remarks, which Perino told reporters yesterday wouldn't include new policy announcements.

Paulson will speak Jan. 7 at the same time to the New York Society of Security Analysts, discussing capital-market developments and their impact on the economy.

Former policy makers including ex-Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers have advocated tax cuts to buttress the economy, while House Democrats also plan to consider stimulus measures.

`Time Has Come'

``There was an overwhelming consensus that the time has come to stimulate this economy,'' House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank told reporters after a Dec. 7 meeting in Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer attended the gathering.

Gillespie declined to comment on whether Bush would endorse further tax cuts, while adding that ``we're constantly looking at policy options.'' He said the first priority of the White House in 2008 is making sure past tax cuts are made permanent.

``We shouldn't have the economy and consumers and investors wondering whether or not those tax cuts are going to expire,'' Gillespie said. ``That's not healthy at a time when we can't take economic growth for granted.''

Economists forecast last month that growth in the fourth quarter slowed to a 1 percent annual rate from 4.9 percent the previous three months. An industry survey yesterday indicated manufacturing contracted the most in almost five years in December, suggesting spillover from the housing recession is increasing.

Oil Climbs

Crude oil futures touched $100 a barrel for the second straight day in New York, posing a threat to consumers already burdened with falling home values.

The Bush administration last month brokered a deal with mortgage lenders to voluntarily fix some subprime mortgages for five years in an effort to head off a wave of foreclosures in 2008. Paulson also favored temporarily easing a limit to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest sources of finance for American home purchases, to buy mortgages in excess of $417,000.

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan suggested last month the government use cash to help defaulting homeowners.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 3, 2008 17:24 EST