It still seems weird when AP calls the White House for a quote on the latest economic indicators. This is true for any administration. White House flacks have no economic expertise, and it's all just spin and garbage anyway, especially in an election year. From today's AP story on poor consumer spending and jobless-claim stats.

The White House said the weekly jobless claims are a volatile marker of the economy's health.

"The bottom line is that they're higher than we'd like to see them," White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said. He added that a slight rise in the Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter was modestly encouraging news, and was in the range of what the administration had expected.

In other words, the unemployment claims don't mean anything. But they're too high. But they don't mean anything. And the first-quarter GDP growth was "within the range of what the administration had expected." What the heck does that mean?

If the White House has policy ideas about what to do, let's find out by all means. But merely quoting spokesmen about an administration's alleged concern doesn't seem to add much.