Projo Biz Blog

By Andy Smith
Journal staff writer

Postal rates are going up. Effective Monday, the price of a first-class stamp goes from 42 cents to 44 cents, while the price to send a postcard rises from 27 cents to 28 cents. The cost of sending a parcel will rise from $1.17 for the first ounce to $1.22 for the first ounce.

"Forever" stamps purchased before Monday will live up to their name and can still be used to mail letters. Christine Dugas, spokeswoman for the Southeast New England District of the U.S. Postal Service said some people are putting their forever stamps in time capsules, in the hopes they'll still be good in the distant future.

Last week, the Postal Service announced it had incurred a net loss of $1.9 billion from Jan. 1 to March 31 of 2009 , thanks in large part to a sharp drop in mail volume. The amount of mail for the period was 43.8 billion pieces, down by 14.7 percent compared with the same period in 2008. The Postal Service attributed the decline to a combination of the recession and long-term trends, such as the sharp rise in electronic messaging as an alternative to mail. Dugas said the postal service has been unable to cut costs deeply enough to make up for the loss of revenue, making a rate increase necessary.

 Tags  stamps U.S. Postal Service

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