The White House says the weak economy can''t afford the collapse of the nation''s automakers.

White House press secretary Dana Perino cited the latest bad economic news — a jump in jobless claims to the highest level in 26 years — in arguing for Senate passage of a bailout package for the Big 3 automakers.

Perino said Thursday that the economy is in such a weakened state that adding another 1 million people to the unemployment rolls from an auto industry failure is not possible. She said: "We don''t think the economy can sustain it."

Perino called the legislation, opposed by some Senate Republicans, a reasonable approach.

She said that President George W. Bush and other administration officials would be lobbying skeptical senators Thursday to vote for the bill.