USPS plans rate increase for July 10

By Bill McAllister, Washington Correspondent

The United States Postal Service announced April 6 that it will boost the price of its first-class stamp to 60¢, a 2¢ increase from the current 58¢ price, as part of a planned 6.5 percent increase in first-class postal rates.

If approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, the change will be effective July 10, along with a series of other increases.

A number of other proposed increases were announced by the Postal Service.

Metered first-class letters will rise to 57¢ from 53¢.

The additional-ounce rate for first-class letters will jump 4¢, from 20¢ to 24¢.

Domestic postcards will go to 44¢ from 40¢, and international letters will rise to $1.40 from $1.30.

In an April 6 news release, the Postal Service sought to show it was exhibiting some restraint.

Rates for first-class mail products would increase 6.5 percent, “which is lower than the Bureau of Labor Statistics annual inflation rate of 7.9 percent as of the end of February,” the USPS said.

The Postal Service said the increases “reflect a judicious implementation of the Postal Service’s pricing authority provided by the Postal Regulatory Commission.”

Mailing organizations have been warning that postal rates were likely to climb sharply as the USPS moves to implement rate increases on a twice-a-year basis.

Higher prices were also requested for rented postal mailboxes, money orders and insurance for mail products.

The rate increases were defended by the USPS, which said they would help implement Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year Delivering for America plan by providing the agency with a $40 billion investment in its infrastructure over the next decade.

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