Postal Service to raise some rates

The cost of mailing packages, postcards and other items will rise this April, the U.S. Postal Service announced today. The price of a postcard stamp, for example, will rise by a penny to 29 cents. Although the base price for sending a first-class letter will remain at 44 cents, the charge for additional ounces will increase from 17 to 20 cents, USPS spokesman Greg Frey said.

The rate hikes would be the first of any kind since May 2009, Frey said, and are set to take effect April 17. Other products and services affected by the planned increase include parcels, flats, international mail, periodicals and pre-sort letters and cards. Cumulatively, the increases are expected to add $340 million to the Postal Service’s bottom line by the end of the fiscal year in September. Express Mail and Priority Mail rates will not be affected.

Because the overall increase would not exceed the rise in the Consumer Price Index, the approval of the Postal Regulatory Commission is not required, Frey said. Last September, the PRC rejected a separate package of proposed rate hikes that would have boosted the price of a first-class stamp to 46 cents. USPS officials have appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.