‘Parks and Recreation” executive producers Dan Goor and Mike Schur said Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones’ upcoming departure from the NBC comedy was a natural evolution of story and had nothing to do with budgetary constraints.

“The decision wasn’t like we’re swapping out those two characters for two other characters at all. It was just a sort of natural,” Schur told reporters yesterday in LA.

Jones and Lowe play on-again, off-again couple Ann Perkins and Chris Trager on “Parks.” The fourth season ended with Ann looking to Chris to help her have children, with the likelihood of the on-screen couple reuniting in the upcoming fifth season.

Lowe and Jones will exit NBC’s lone returning fall comedy after the 13 installment of its 24-episode fifth season.

Schur noted that while NBC has always come to the series to cut costs, trimming the show’s cast was never part of the equation.

“Every network comes to you and says, ‘Cut costs’ — all the time . . . But it wasn’t like, ‘Uh oh, we have to hack away our cast,’ ” he added.