Despite an uptick in incoming retirement claims, the OPM retirement backlog fell by 4% during August.
The Office of Personnel Management received 7,083 new retirement claims last month and processed 7,702. That helped to bring the total outstanding retirement claims down to 15,178 to finish the month, 4% fewer than at the end of July (15,797).
OPM also cut the monthly average processing time by 1 day, going from 65 days at the end of July to 64 in August.
So far in 2024, the average of the OPM retirement backlog in any given month has been 16,708, driven largely by the typical surge in the number of federal employees retiring at the end of a calendar year. It stood at 20,822 at the end of January, a whopping 46% higher than at the end of 2023.
The average of the monthly retirement claims received and processed has been 7,980 and 7,869, respectively.
The OPM retirement backlog at the end of August 2024 is the lowest it has been to finish the month of August since 2014 when it was 13,097. In the last five years, 2024 is the lowest by far as shown in the table below.
| Claims Received | Claims Processed | Inventory | |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2024 | 7,083 | 7,702 | 15,178 |
| August 2023 | 7,383 | 6,467 | 17,963 |
| August 2022 | 8,032 | 8,019 | 29,237 |
| August 2021 | 8,976 | 7,412 | 28,565 |
| August 2020 | 6,775 | 5,836 | 18,570 |
As of August 2024, OPM estimates in its Retirement Quick Guide that federal retirees will get their first full annuity payments within 3-5 months of retiring.
OPM Retirement Backlog Processing Status – August 2024
| Month | Claims Received | Claims Processed | Inventory (Steady state goal is 13,000) | Monthly Average Processing Time in Days | FYTD Average Processing Time in Days |
| March 2023 | 8,354 | 8,929 | 22,925 | 69 | 81 |
| April 2023 | 8,298 | 10,839 | 20,384 | 70 | 79 |
| May 2023 | 6,096 | 8,355 | 18,125 | 71 | 78 |
| June 2023 | 4,854 | 6,609 | 16,370 | 74 | 78 |
| July 2023 | 7,261 | 6,584 | 17,047 | 85 | 78 |
| August 2023 | 7,383 | 6,467 | 17,963 | 74 | 78 |
| September 2023 | 6,768 | 8,879 | 15,852 | 70 | 77 |
| October 2023 | 6,924 | 6,098 | 16,678 | 73 | 73 |
| November 2023 | 5,207 | 6,059 | 15,826 | 66 | 69 |
| December 2023 | 5,662 | 7,196 | 14,292 | 68 | 69 |
| January 2024 | 12,997 | 6,467 | 20,822 | 66 | 68 |
| February 2024 | 8,794 | 10,025 | 19,591 | 47 | 62 |
| March 2024 | 7,943 | 10,711 | 16,823 | 55 | 61 |
| April 2024 | 6,901 | 7,647 | 16,077 | 61 | 61 |
| May 2024 | 6,751 | 8,793 | 14,035 | 60 | 61 |
| June 2024 | 6,919 | 5,614 | 15,340 | 64 | 61 |
| July 2024 | 6,451 | 5,994 | 15,797 | 65 | 61 |
| August 2024 | 7,083 | 7,702 | 15,178 | 64 | 61 |
Disability determinations are included in the pending number after approval. Average Processing Time in Days represents the number of days starting when OPM receives the retirement application through final adjudication.
*Initial retirement cases produced in less than 60 days, on average took 39 days to complete; whereas cases that were produced in more than 60 days, on average, took 127 days to complete.
