"...The government processed more federal retirement applications in June than it expected to, and the total claims backlog is down 21 percent since the beginning of the year, according to the latest statistics.
The backlog now stands at 48,323 claims, down 12,785 since January and 55 less than the total number of outstanding retirement claims in December 2011. The Office of Personnel Management, the agency responsible for processing retirement applications, completed 8,964 claims in June -- 464 more claims than it estimated it would process that month. OPM also received 186 fewer applications in June than it projected..."
