Homeless

Maybe I've already touched on this subject before, but is it just me, or are there more homeless people than usual? The past couple weeks, I've seen a few people sleeping in the park up the street from my house. One morning, I even saw a man sneaking out of an abandoned lot with an old shed, presumably his new home (are squatters considered homeless?). Is it from this recent economic downturn, or are more people simply without a home?