January 24, 1981

President Reagan's search for remedies for the nation's economic problems continued to dominate his working schedule today as he met with Republican Congressional leaders and announced his intention to appoint Murray L. Weidenbaum to be chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. At midday, Mr. Reagan left the White House for a ''get-acquainted'' luncheon in the Treasury building with Paul A. Volcker, the Federal Reserve chairman, whose monetary policies he has often criticized. The message emerging from Mr. Reagan's breakfast meeting with the Congressional leaders was that his package of economic proposals would not be sent to Congress until mid-February, well behind the original schedule set by the Reagan transition team. Decisions on Former Hostages While concentrating on the economy, Mr. Reagan was also making the broad policy decisions about the homecoming of the Americans formerly held hostage in Iran, according to James S. Brady, the White House press secretary. He said it was Mr. Reagan's decision that the former captives should meet privately with their families on Sunday, their first day back in the United States, before coming to the White House on Tuesday to be welcomed by Mr. Reagan.

Samuel Barber, the American composer who twice won the Pulitzer Prize and whose Adagio for Strings became one of the most popular works in the orchestral repertoire, died yesterday in his Fifth Avenue apartment after a long illness. He was 70 years old. Throughout his career, Samuel Barber was hounded by success. Probably no other American composer has ever enjoyed such early, such persistent and such long-lasting acclaim. His first piece for orchestra, Overture to ''The School for Scandal,'' which he composed at the age of 21, was given its world premiere by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Alexander Smallens. Arturo Toscanini, who in his later years wanted little to do with new music, chose to give the world premieres of two Barber works in one year, the ''First Essay for Orchestra'' and the orchestral version of the Adagio for Strings.

The freed American hostages will be flown home Sunday to be reunited with their families at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Some, according to the State Department's chief medical officer, will bring with them serious psychiatric problems growing out of their 444 days of captivity. After four days of tests and rest, the State Department said, the former hostages are scheduled to make the last leg of the long journey home from Teheran when they board an Air Force jet at Frankfurt, 20 miles from here, for a flight to Stewart Airport at Newburgh, N.Y. From there, the freed hostages and their relatives will be transferred to the United States Military Academy for several days of privacy. One Will Stay in Germany Only 51 of the 52 who had been held in Teheran will will be making the trip. Donald R. Hohman, an Army medic, has already been reunited with his German-born wife, Anna, and has chosen to remain in Frankfurt with her and their two children.

As the Soviet Union stepped up pressure against Poland today and Warsaw was crippled by a four-hour strike, Lech Walesa issued an appeal for members of Solidarity, the independent trade union organization, not to work tomorrow. ''There must be an effective work boycott tomorrow to preserve the unity of the movement,'' Mr. Walesa said in a statement that was telexed and telephoned to Solidarity offices throughout the country. ''We know that there are 10 million of us,'' he said. ''Ten million members that should be talked to, dealt with and not split. Everything is directed at splitting us. If we are divided here, we will be divided on other matters.

The Consumer Price Index, continuing to climb sharply, rose by 1.1 percent in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. For all of 1980, the bureau reported, the rise was 12.4 percent, the second consecutive year of double-digit inflation as measured by this index. The 1979 rise was 13.3 percent. Not since World War I have there been two such consecutive years.