I guessed that the attached patch illustrates the problem that you are describing, but it seems to me that the current Pd-extended algorithm and the Pd-vanilla algorithm get it right:
Labels for some reason seem to be more forgiving, but when you increase font size enough, they get messed up too (see test1.pd for an example). The problem is more apparent when using number2 object. See attached test2.pd patch--there should be no scrollbars since the object fits, yet there they are nonetheless. If you make the font size bigger, it gets worse.
Ico