OPM Reduces Retirement Backlog Nearly 6% in December

OPM made an almost 6% reduction in its backlog of outstanding retirement claims to close out 2016.

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%

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.