If you're single and not tied to anything in particular, why not move? Experiencing a new part of your country or another country rules; even when it doesn't work out to be that much fun it tends to be much more valuable on many levels than kicking around your home state.

I've had… gotta think. Three different Perl gigs in the last five years but only worked three years so it's about one a year; in the Pacific Northwest. When I'm looking for work I can go three depressing months without a nibble or a listing that seems any good and then all of the sudden find my inbox full of recruiters I never even contacted and have to pick between three jobs.

Lack of experience will not just be a problem at home but with relocating too. Probably moreso because if it's worth relocating for, the competitive pool just got deeper.

Keep your eye on Perl Jobs telecommute listing. I've landed two jobs through it and one indirectly: they tried to hire me for telecommute but their local office took me for an office contract. Telecommuting is also a place where lack of experience is gonna kill you because the competition for the those jobs can be fierce.

Spend time making yourself a more attractive choice and maybe expand what kind of work you'd be willing to take to get a resume bullet. Shore up your Perl in areas you're not already adept (POE? Objects? Sysadmin stuff?). Contribute to the CPAN directly or indirectly by submitting patches or tests. Pick up some PHP; ewwwww, I know but many offices use it and half the posts I see for Perl ask for it too. How is your web 2.0 stuff? It matters because a lot of the venture capital that's coming back is going that way. Most of that stuff--Ajax, CSS, DHTML, XML, XHTML, JSON--is really easy. It's just getting your head around the 1,000 simple details. There are always jobs for technical writers if you have the interest (or stomach).

Dive into the Perl that will make you a star. DBIx::Class, as just a single example, can make one developer so productive with data slinging that it's amazing. Just playing with Moose will make you a more thoughtful hacker. Stick around here. I can't sing this place's praises enough. I'm not here much when I'm working but the time I spend here when I'm not is part of why I've been able to get employed when I need to be.

Reiterating: moving is great and some areas have more tech jobs. The pay in the Portland/Seattle area is not as high as many places because of MSFT, Adobe, etc but there is always tech work. Both towns are great if you can take the winter rain. The East coast pays much better. I see postings there for $100k that would post on the West coast with 5x the required skills for $50k (and it's not because NYC is more expensive than SF either because that's not true). A lot of great places to live down the Eastern seaboard.

Last. Don't give up. It can seem bleak. Sometimes a job you don't get is really a bullet you dodged in disguise. Be diligent, creative, and positive in your hunt. And good luck!