By Jared A. Favole, The Wall Street Journal/ of Dow Jones Newswires

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--President Barack Obama on Monday said his economic team is working to identify new measures to stimulate U.S. growth as part of a "full-scale attack" to strengthen the lackluster economy.

Obama, speaking in the White House Rose Garden, said his economic team is "hard at work in identifying additional measures that could make a difference in both promoting growth and hiring in the short term, and increasing our economy's competitiveness in the long term."

It's unclear what new measures the Obama administration is considering, though Obama mentioned previously discussed proposals such as cutting taxes, extending financing to small businesses and boosting investments in renewable energy. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declined to provide details about the new measures when pressed by reporters, but said Obama plans to lay out the new moves in the coming weeks.

He said the new measures will take the form of targeted initiatives meant to spur growth and "create an environment where the private sector is not simply investing but also hiring."

The new measures, whatever form they may take, come as the Obama administration is facing greater scrutiny in the face of grim economic news. Last week, for instance, the federal government said the U.S. economy grew a sluggish 1.6% in the second quarter and corporate profits nearly froze.

Obama said passing a small business bill that is stuck in the U.S. Senate will help. The legislation, which would provide tax cuts and boost lending to small businesses, is stuck in the Senate, blocked by Republicans. The Senate is currently on a summer recess until mid-September.

Obama urged Republicans to stop their efforts to block the bill, saying, "Holding this bill hostage is directly detrimental to our economic growth."

Republicans have raised concerns that Democrats won't allow them to vote on individual amendments to the bill. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, in a statement criticized the Obama administration's handling of the economy.

"Instead of growing jobs as promised, Washington Democrats have grown the size of the national debt, the federal government and the unemployment rate," McConnell said. Obama has said the small business bill would not add to the federal deficit but would be offset by other measures.

He also criticized Obama for pledging to let tax cuts for wealthy Americans expire. McConnell said letting those tax cuts expire will hurt some small business owners.

Gibbs said letting the tax cuts expire would only affect 3% of small business owners.

Obama also acknowledged that there is no "silver bullet that will reverse the damage done by the bubble-and-bust cycles that caused our economy into this slide." He added, "It's going to take a full-scale effort, a full-scale attack that not only helps in the short term, but builds a firmer foundation that makes our nation stronger for the long haul."

Obama's comments came after he held his daily economic briefing with advisers, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Christina Romer and economic adviser Larry Summers.