Still Waiting for That Retirement Wave

OPM says 43,649 full-time permanent federal employees retired in fiscal 2009 -- 27 percent less than projected, Federal Times reports. The number of retirees hasn't been that low since 2002.

Chalk it up to the Great Recession -- which provides another reminder that even with a large percentage of federal employees eligible to retire, it's notoriously difficult to predict retirement waves in government. Remember, it wasn't that long ago that OPM was projecting that the peak years for retirements would be 2008-2010.