Fewer federal workers retired last month compared to a year ago, according to the latest report from the Office of Personnel Management released Monday.

September saw fewer new retirement claims in September — 7,142 — than in August — 8,826 — but  OPM also processed fewer claims in that time than the month before. Year over year, both the number of new claims received and the number of claims processed were down, according to OPM’s report.

However, with 17,628 claims the backlog was 800 higher last month than in September 2017. From August to September of this year the backlog stayed relatively stable.

After trending downward for two months the average time needed to process claims rose again to 64 days in September — two days longer than the average time in September 2017. Year-to-date that average increased to 59 days last month but has remained relatively steady since February, according to OPM’s report.

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