LOS ANGELES >> New data shows that Los Angeles city and county have the most chronically homeless people in the nation.

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department figures released Thursday show that at about 12,500 people, Los Angeles’ chronically homeless population has grown 55 percent since 2013. The agency reports that more than a third of the nation’s chronically homeless live in California.

The Los Angeles Times reports that those numbers contrast with nationwide figures, which show the number of chronically homeless across the country declined by 1 percent.

HUD has extended its goal of ending chronic homelessness from the end of the year to 2017.

The government classifies disabled people who go without housing for a year, or who land in the street several times over three years, as chronically homeless.