I get this comment a lot, I've been hearing it for years, and I know it's usually borne from anxiety. It's really impossible to say how many jobs are out there at any given time. A lot of hiring is done through word of mouth, and not every job is posted to LinkedIn or Glassdoor.

I won't get into the state of the economy or anything, obviously there are times of low and high employment, but these numbers don't really mean anything to the individual. I always think of this clip from Scrubs when I think of this kind of thing. The bottom line is, it doesn't really matter how many jobs are out there, if we could even measure that. You can’t impact the statistics, nor control which side you fall on. All that really matters is that you keep on applying and moving towards your goals.

The only thing that you have to consider as far as how many jobs are out there, is that if there aren't a lot of jobs - and again we can't tell that - but if there aren't a lot, that does mean that the ones you're applying to will have more people applying to them on average. The competition will be higher - but the competition is usually high to begin with.

So you have to make your portfolio and resume the best they can be to be competitive. The best designers will be hired, generally speaking. So keep working on your design skills and make sure your portfolio shows your best work. Reach out to network too, and expand your network by meeting other creatives at social or networking events, and tell people you’re looking for a junior designer role. And on top of that, keep applying online, and remember that this process takes time. Good luck.