A total of 122 appeals were filed in January. That’s far below the 239 filed in December (which set a record for December) or the 353 filed in October (our all-time single month record) — but it’s right in line with the average number of appeals filed in January. (From 2009 through 2015, an average of 124.6 appeals were filed in January.)

It’s far too early to know what the year ahead holds, of course, but January tends to be a low-volume month. From 2009 to 2015, fewer appeals were filed in January than any other month. (February was only slightly higher; the numbers go up significantly in March through December.)

It’s hard to say why this is, but my working theory is that it relates to the holiday season — if fewer requests are filed in late November through early January, it would make logical sense that the OOR would receive fewer appeals in January and February.