President Bush signed an extension of unemployment compensation Friday, as Democratic leaders in Congress said they will start work immediately on a broader economic stimulus package to move in January.

Bush acted less than a day after the Senate cleared the legislation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats will be spend the coming weeks preparing an economic recovery package that the 111th Congress can consider soon after it convenes Jan. 6. They hope to have it ready to enact soon after Barack Obama is sworn in as president Jan. 20.

Pelosi said Democrats will build on a $61 billion package the House passed Sept. 26, which would have provided funding for infrastructure projects, food stamps and state Medicaid programs. Pelosi said the new package also will have a tax-cut component, which is expected to target the middle class.

The package will likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Economists advising Democrats have told party leaders whatever is done should be big enough to give the economy a strong jolt.

Although Senate Democratic leaders earlier this week tried to call up a broader economic stimulus package that would include an emergency loan program for the floundering U.S. auto industry, Republicans blocked those attempts.

Democrats settled for a bill that extends unemployment compensation by seven weeks for workers whose existing benefits have run out, and by 13 weeks for workers in states with jobless rates higher than 6 percent.

It was the second time this year Congress has sent to Bush’s desk an extension of the normal 26 weeks of compensation for jobless workers. The fiscal 2008 supplemental spending law enacted in June included an extension of up to 13 weeks for workers whose regular benefits had been exhausted. That measure did not include a longer extension for high-unemployment states.