Nationwide SSDI awards hit their lowest level in 10 years with only 56,322 awards in November.
This was a decline of 19 percent from 69,670 awards in October, and about 8 percent lower compared to 61,055 awards a year ago in November 2014. The 10-year monthly low was 48,157 awards set in December 2006.
The Social Security Administration joins other federal agencies this week in waiting for a final budget deal from Congress, whose temporary measure expires on Friday, Dec. 11. SSA officials have stated budget allocations will be critical to disability processing activities and wait times. The SSA Office of the Inspector General’s September report on the hearing backlog indicated the SSA has aggressive plans for hiring administrative law judges, with a staffing goal of up to 1,900 ALJs by FY 2018.
As of Nov. 1, 83 hearing offices across the U.S. now have wait times of more than 500 days, including 16 offices with over 600 days. In August, 54 offices had a wait of 500 days or more.
The longest wait is in Miami, where 8,971 people are waiting an average 729 days, or two years, for a hearing.
