USPS raises postage stamp prices starting Sunday
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The price of postage stamps goes up for the second time this year — and the fifth time in 24 months — starting Sunday.
Why it matters: The 5-cent increase for First-Class stamps ties the record for the biggest hike ever.
- The only other 5-cent increase happened in January 2019 when the price of a first-class stamp increased from 50 to 55 cents, according to USPS data.
The big picture: Stamp inflation, also known as "stampflation," has been affecting stamp prices over the last couple of years as Americans continue to reduce what they send via snail mail.
- The new round of United States Postal Service's new price increases represent a roughly 7.8% increase.
- The increases come as the Labor Department announced the Consumer Price Index fell 0.1% in June.
Context: Postage rates last went up in January 2024. Before that, they rose in July 2023, January 2023 and July 2022.
- Between the 1970s and 2000, rates increased three to four times a decade, USPS data shows.
- Most postage increases have been between 2 to 3 cents.
Friction point: Keep US Posted, a nonprofit watchdog, is calling on Congress to file legislation to fix Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's Delivering for America plan and reject the twice-annual stamp increases.
- Beth Dozier, spokeswoman for the advocacy group, told Axios that under DeJoy's leadership, USPS will continue to "hike postage rates twice each year at percentages far above inflation, delay mail, and slip further into financial ruin."
Forever stamp price increase starts Sunday
State of play: The price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp will increase from 68 cents to 73 cents on July 14.
- The Postal Service first started selling Forever stamps in 2007, when they cost 41 cents.
USPS rates 2024: Postcard postage increase
Other increases starting Sunday include:
- Metered 1-ounce letters will cost 69 cents, up from 64 cents.
- Postcards sent domestically will be 56 cents, up from 53 cents.
- International postcards and 1-ounce letters will see a 10-cent increase to $1.65.
- The additional-ounce price for single-piece letters increases from 24 cents to 28 cents.
By the numbers: In 2023, USPS handled 116.1 billion pieces of mail compared to the high of 213.1 billion in 2006, data shows.
- The Postal Service said in November that it projected a net loss of $6.5 billion for its fiscal year.
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