Postal Rates Are Going Up This Summer

The Postal Service announced rate increases Friday, part of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's 10-year overhaul. Come Aug. 29, a first-class stamp will rise from 55 cents to 58 cents. Various mailing rates will go up as much as 6.9%, the Washington Post reports. The Postal Service also sent layoff notice to hundreds of management employees on Friday. DeJoy, who announced the restructuring in March, has said the changes are needed to stop the agency's financial slide, and his immediate goal is heading off a $160 billion loss projected for the next decade. His plan includes reduced hours at post offices and longer delivery times, in addition to fewer employees. On-time delivery scores for the Postal Service have not been above 90% since last July.

Volume for first-class mail has fallen 47% during the past 10 years, the agency said Friday. Even after its increase, per CBS, the Postal Service said it will offer "some of the lowest letter-mail postage rates in the industrialized world." The restructuring legislation, which also addresses yearly payments of $5 billion for health care benefits for retired employees, has bipartisan support in Congress. Members have worried about mail prices getting too high, though, and analysts said the layoffs and price increases could imperil the legislation. The Postal Service raised other rates Friday and indicated that more increases will come. The rate hikes will extend to package shipping, an area of heated competition with UPS, FedEx, and Amazon. (More US Postal Service stories.)