Below is our weekly snapshot of veterans disability claims status, based on data from the Veterans Benefits Administration’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress.
| CLAIMS PENDING | OVER 125 DAYS | % OVER 125 DAYS | AVG. DAYS PENDING | |
| This week | 628,028 | 380,927 | 60.70% | 173 |
| Last week | 627,228 | 379,631 | 60.50% | 174.1 |
| Change | 800 | 1,296 | 0.20% | -1.1 |
| YTD Change | -8,246 | -7,251 | -0.30% | -2.7 |
| Year ago | 821,143 | 587,351 | 71.50% | N/A |
Below is our weekly snapshot of veterans disability claims status, based on data from the Veterans Benefits Administration’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress.
| CLAIMS PENDING | OVER 125 DAYS | % OVER 125 DAYS | AVG. DAYS PENDING | |
| This week | 627,228 | 379,631 | 60.50% | 174.1 |
| Last week | 630,909 | 382,250 | 60.60% | 174.8 |
| Change | -3,681 | -2,619 | -0.10% | -0.7 |
| Year ago | 816,405 | 552,487 | 67.70% | N/A |
Below is our weekly snapshot of veterans disability claims status, based on data from the Veterans Benefits Administration’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress.
| CLAIMS PENDING | OVER 125 DAYS | % OVER 125 DAYS | AVG. DAYS PENDING | |
| This week | 630,909 | 382,250 | 60.60% | 174.8 |
| Last week | 633,967 | 381,894 | 60.20% | 174.5 |
| Change | -3,058 | 356 | 0.40% | 0.3 |
| Year ago | 821,966 | 585,234 | 71.20% | N/A |
After two weeks of a growing backlog of disability claims older than 125 days, the Veterans Benefits Administration returned to positive territory for the second week in a row last week, chipping away again at clearing its oldest cases.
Just 2,300 of the oldest claims were cleared last week, leaving 382,000 to go and keeping the agency to the backlog level of late October. Two weeks of backsliding happened in late November as well as late December that ended a streak of progress that began in mid-summer 2013. During that streak, about 6,000 of the oldest cases were being cleared in the average week. Since then, an average of 1,650 a week have been, based on data released in the VBA’s weekly “Monday Morning Work Workload Reports.”
Despite recent backsliding, there was overall substantial improvement in the past year, with about 23% fewer claims pending overall and more than a third fewer waiting over 125 days. The percentage taking over 125 days had been cut by 11 percentage points.
Below is our weekly snapshot of claims status and two graphics from the Veterans Benefits Administration’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress.
| CLAIMS PENDING | OVER 125 DAYS | % OVER 125 DAYS | AVG. DAYS PENDING | |
| This week | 633,967 | 381,894 | 60.20% | 174.5 |
| Last week | 636,371 | 384,213 | 60.40% | 175.3 |
| Change | -2,404 | -2,319 | -0.20% | -0.8 |
| Year ago | 823,561 | 583,739 | 70.90% | N/A |
Suicides in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps were down in 2013 from the year before, year-end data released by both military branches in recent days shows. The number of attempted suicides in the Marines was up significantly, however.
In the Marines, there were 45 suicides in 2013, down slightly from 48 in 2013. The number of attempted suicides reported was up 28%, ending the year at 229. (Document from Marines)
The Navy’s numbers for December put the year’s total at 44 active duty personnel and 3 reserves. That is a 25% drop over 2012’s 59 for active duty and half as many reservists (6 in 2012). (Document with Navy’s 2013 report)
Suicides in the U.S. Army has been trending lower thorough November, with about 42 fewer confirmed suicides than 2012 among active duty and inactive reserve personnel combined. The number of potential suicides among inactive duty personnel, however, was up about 10%.
December data for the Army is due to be released by the end of this month.
Month-by-month charts | View and download data in a spreadsheet we maintain.
Below: Marine Corps data.
SOURCE: United States Marine Corps
After two weeks of a growing backlog of disability claims older than 125 days, the Veterans Benefits Administration returned to positive territory last week, chipping away slightly at clearing its oldest cases.
Just under 4,000 of the oldest claims were cleared last week, leaving 384,000 to go and returning the agency to the backlog level of late October. Two weeks of backsliding happened in late November as well as late December that ended a streak of progress that began in mid-summer 2013. During that streak, about 6,000 of the oldest cases were being cleared in the average week. Since then, an average of 1,650 a week have been, based on data released in the VBA’s weekly “Monday Morning Work Workload Reports.”
Despite recent backsliding, there was overall substantial improvement in the past year, with about 23% fewer claims pending overall and more than a third fewer waiting over 125 days. The percentage taking over 125 days had been cut by 11 percentage points.
Below is our weekly snapshot of claims status and two graphics from the Veterans Benefits Administration’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress.
| CLAIMS PENDING | OVER 125 DAYS | % OVER 125 DAYS | AVG. DAYS PENDING | |
| This week | 636,371 | 384,213 | 60.40% | 175.3 |
| Last week | 636,274 | 388,178 | 61.00% | 175.7 |
| Change | 97 | -3,965 | -0.60% | -0.4 |
| Year ago | 825,178 | 584,118 | 70.80% | N/A |
The unemployment rate for veterans who have served since 9/11 dipped in 2013, but it is still 25% higher than non-veterans, our analysis of new data shows.
Full details, including links to download data.
