Thanks, Captain Obvious.

MarketWatch — Markets “go up and down,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 500 points. He said the Obama administration is monitoring the situation in Europe closely and that a lot of global issues are affecting the economy.

Carney once again employs the White House’s new political argument to blame poor job numbers and slow government growth on global natural disasters.

“There is no question that we have — this economy has faced headwinds this year, a variety of them including the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the increase in oil prices, energy prices that resulted from the unrest in the Arab world and the situation in Europe, also. So, our focus has to be on the things that we control which is to take the necessary measures,” Carney said.

“I don’t have a specific reaction to the market. Markets go up and down,” Carney said in reaction to the DJIA dropping nearly 400 points by mid-afternoon.