I would definitely not get discouraged. My PT score tanked to a 147 when I had seriously been studying for a month. I was sad for the rest of that day, but I didn't let it deter me. The next day I just kept learning and writing out on top of my init…
It's definitely not true that you won't get into law school if you don't have a job. If you have over a year's gap they'd expect an addendum to explain what you're doing, but you could also try to incorporate that somewhere in your application essay…