That's interesting, still doesn't really answer the question, and it still doesn't make up for the current universal consensus on job creation which currently says, ". . . far short of where it needs to be".
The only reason the unemployment rate is "falling" is because the DoL keeps removing people from the workforce.
If those graphs don't answer your question, I can't help you. They show the percentage difference in full-time workers vs. part-time workers. Since the recession, full-time employment has been gradually increasing in relation to part-time employment. As for current job creation, you're right. It isn't where it needs to be, but it would be closer if governments weren't cutting hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs.
As to your last point, people who give up looking for work have always dropped out of the labor force. They go from being unemployed to out of the labor force. The unemployment rate is calculated the same as it's always been.