Unfortunately, you seem to be correct. The employment rate (% of persons employed) has gone DOWN. This is very bad news. I don't see any recovery of jobs coming in the next few years.
This has happened to Japan and elsewhere as well. Jobs are being exported to China, India, etc at an alarming rate. Until these labor forces come up to wage parity with the US, we will see our jobs declining here. Given the TWO BILLION people in China and India, that will be a long time in coming. In the meanwhile, I foresee some pretty stagnant employment conditions in this country. Alas, there is little that either the President or Congress can do about it, other than to blame each other, of course!