According to the latest published data, the Office of Personnel Management has reduced the backlog of outstanding retirement claims by 5.8% to close out 2016.
OPM received 5,483 new retirement claims in December but was able to process 6,405 which allowed it to bring the backlog down from 16,019 at the end of November to 15,097 to close out the year.
OPM also reported that it took 52 days, on average, in December to process a case in 60 days or less. 49% of total cases were processed in 60 days or less.
At the end of 2015, the backlog stood at 11,399. It then jumped up to nearly 20,000 in January thanks to the surge of new retirement claims that come at the end of the year. Based on this typical recurring pattern, it is likely OPM will see an increase in its backlog at the end of this month when the new statistics are published. We will continue to keep our users informed of new data as they are made available.
The latest data for December are included below.
| Month | Claims Received | Claims Processed | Inventory (Steady state is 13,000) | % Processed in 60 days or less (FYTD) | % Processed in 60 days or less (Monthly) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct-15 | 8,374 | 10,438 | 12,642 | 74% | 74% |
| Nov-15 | 6,019 | 6,099 | 12,562 | 76% | 82% |
| Dec-15 | 4,753 | 5,916 | 11,399 | 78% | 83% |
| Jan-16 | 15,423 | 7,061 | 19,761 | 79% | 80% |
| Feb-16 | 11,293 | 8,362 | 22,692 | 80% | 85% |
| Mar-16 | 5,741 | 9,222 | 19,211 | 82% | 88% |
| Apr-16 | 7,241 | 11,935 | 14,517 | 80% | 76% |
| May-16 | 7,210 | 7,692 | 14,035 | 80% | 75% |
| Jun-16 | 5,929 | 6,435 | 13,529 | 79% | 75% |
| Jul-16 | 9,238 | 7,205 | 15,562 | 79% | 74% |
| Aug-16 | 6,818 | 6,046 | 16,334 | 78% | 72% |
| Sep-16 | 6,946 | 8,134 | 15,146 | 77% | 64% |
| Oct-16 | 7,326 | 5,795 | 16,677 | 58% | 58% |
| Nov-16 | 5,065 | 5,723 | 16,019 | 60% | 61% |
| Dec-16 | 5,483 | 6,405 | 15,097 | 56% | 49% |
