OPM cuts federal retirement backlog as it works through spring surge

The federal government again processed a high number of retirement applications last month, even though its overall pace slowed.

In March, the Office of Personnel Management packaged 680 more cases than it did the month before and took in about 850 fewer applications, chopping the backlog by 14%. The rate of processing was slightly slower than in February, but the average case is still being processed in roughly two months or less, which is OPM’s goal, according to the data.

This is a busy time of year for OPM as it received a surge of applications in the winter and will be working through them throughout the spring.