The Office of Personnel Management was able to process more outstanding claims than it received last month to help send the backlog of retirement claims slightly lower in June.
OPM received 5,929 new claims and processed 6,435 to bring the backlog down to 13,529, a 3.6% reduction but still well above the 10k mark.
Although it stayed ahead of the number of new claims received, OPM processed far fewer claims in June than it did in May which led to a smaller reduction in the backlog had it stayed on the pace from the previous month. In May, OPM was able to process 7,692 claims, 16% more than it processed in June.
The backlog reached its bottom last December when it stood at 11,399 only to see the backlog more than double in January. If the trend of a surge of new claims in January continues, the backlog is not likely to get under the 10,000 mark anytime soon.
The latest complete figures are included below.
| Month | Claims Received | Claims Processed | Inventory (Steady state is 13,000) | % Processed in 60 days or less (YTD) | % Processed in 60 days or less (Monthly) | Avg. # of Days to Process Case in 60 days or less | Avg. # of Days to Process Case in more than 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct-14 | 10,155 | 8,785 | 14,137 | 83% | 83% | 36 | 104 |
| Nov-14 | 5,746 | 5,844 | 14,039 | 83% | 84% | 37 | 107 |
| Dec-14 | 4,077 | 6,447 | 11,669 | 84% | 84% | 45 | 99 |
| Jan-15 | 18,629 | 7,662 | 22,636 | 80% | 71% | 43 | 91 |
| Feb-15 | 9,219 | 7,841 | 24,014 | 81% | 82% | 33 | 103 |
| Mar-15 | 5,478 | 8,898 | 20,594 | 82% | 86% | 46 | 99 |
| Apr-15 | 6,292 | 8,660 | 18,226 | 73% | 26% | 49 | 74 |
| May-15 | 7,845 | 10,697 | 15,374 | 68% | 45% | 47 | 79 |
| Jun-15 | 6,920 | 7,783 | 14,511 | 69% | 75% | 44 | 99 |
| Jul-15 | 9,862 | 7,918 | 16,455 | 69% | 72% | 45 | 97 |
| Aug-15 | 7,341 | 7,446 | 16,350 | 70% | 76% | 45 | 98 |
| Sep-15 | 6,300 | 7,944 | 14,706 | 70% | 76% | 43 | 94 |
| Oct-15 | 8,374 | 10,438 | 12,642 | 74% | 74% | 38 | 86 |
| Nov-15 | 6,019 | 6,099 | 12,562 | 76% | 82% | 37 | 98 |
| Dec-15 | 4,753 | 5,916 | 11,399 | 78% | 83% | 40 | 104 |
| Jan-16 | 15,423 | 7,061 | 19,761 | 79% | 80% | 38 | 94 |
| Feb-16 | 11,293 | 8,362 | 22,692 | 80% | 85% | 36 | 96 |
| Mar-16 | 5,741 | 9,222 | 19,211 | 82% | 88% | 44 | 118 |
| Apr-16 | 7,241 | 11,935 | 14,517 | 80% | 76% | 50 | 92 |
| May-16 | 7,210 | 7,692 | 14,035 | 80% | 75% | 37 | 103 |
| Jun-16 | 5,929 | 6,435 | 13,529 | 79% | 75% | 37 | 115 |
