You know what alarms me more than the US economy showing a net loss of 4,000 jobs last month?

The unemployment rate, which is derived from a different statistical survey than the payroll figures, held steady as 340,000 people left the workforce. Fewer people in that survey reported finding employment in August compared with July.

That's like saying sectarian violence in Iraq is down because we've stopped counting as sectarian killings where the bullet goes in through the front of the head, not the back.

As a mathematician, I despair.