As the number of homeless people continues to rise in the United States, it may come as a surprise to many of us that the number of jobs available is also on the rise. .. a fact that may evoke the question: Is being homeless and unemployed a choice?

The information comes from the U.S. Department of Labor in a report showing during the month of September, the number of job openings in the nation jumped to 10.7 million. That’s up from 10.3 million the month before.

Some pundits say they did not expect an increase in available jobs because they thought the number would actually go down instead of up.

At the same time, the number of people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own went down settling at 1.3 million, which is the lowest point since April.

But in the defense of many people who are both working, and still homeless, some un-housed people say when record high inflation is factored in, they cannot afford housing, food, utilities and transportation on the salaries that are available.

-Tony Lee