Post Office Raises Prices

The United States Postal Service (USPS) will be raising their rates this month.

According to information that was released on the USPS website, on April 6, the United States Postal Service filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) of price changes to take effect July 10. On June 9, the PRC announced the approval of changes, which include a two-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from $0.58 cents to $0.60. The proposed prices, approved by the Governors of The U.S. Postal Service would raise First-Class Mail® prices approximately 6.5%, which is lower than the Bureau Labor Statistics annual inflation rate of 7.9 percent as of the end of February. The price changes reflect a judicious implementation of the Postal Service’s pricing authority provided by the PRC.

The new First-Class Mail prices can be summarized as follows:

A one-ounce letter mailed domestic was originally $0.58 and it will be raised to $0.60.

For a single-piece letter, every additional ounce was originally priced at $0.20 and will be raised to $0.24.

Any metered mail at 1-ounce was $0.53 and will be raised to $0.57.

A postcard stamp was originally $0.40 will be raised to $0.44.

A one-ounce letter mailed international was originally $1.30 and will be raised to $1.40.

Additionally, the Postal Service is also seeking price adjustments for Special Services products including;

Certified Mail

Post Office Box rental fees

Money Order fees

Insurance fees

The article continued, “as inflation and increased operating expenses continue, these price adjustments will help with the implementation of the Delivering for America plan, including a $40 billion investment in core Postal Service infrastructure over the next ten years. With the new prices, the Postal Service will continue to provide the lowest letter-mail postage rates in the industrialized world and offer a great value in shipping.”

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations.