A 1-cent postage rate increase for first-class mail will take effect Sunday.
The postage rate for first-class mail stamps, or Forever Stamps, will increase to 45 cents, the first increase since May 2009.
Other first-class mail price increases include:
» Postcards — 3-cent increase to 32 cents.
» Letters to Canada or Mexico — 5-cent increase to 85 cents.
» Letters to other international destinations — 7-cent increase to $1.05.
Forever Stamps still will be honored, but customers will have to pay the higher rate for new stamps starting Sunday.
The increase is necessary to offset the U.S. Postal Service’s current financial crisis.
Mail volume in 2011 plummeted by 3 billion pieces, or 1.7 percent, from 2010. First-class mail dropped 5.8 percent to $32.2 billion from $34.2 billion, according to the Postal Service.
The agency’s 2011 fiscal year ended with a net loss of $5.1 billion.
Revenue for shipping services that include Express Mail and Priority Mail, however, increased to $530 million in 2011, up 6.3 percent. The increase, officials said, is due to customers’ Internet purchases.
Prices for Express Mail and Priority Mail remain unchanged. Price changes for other mailing services, including standard mail, periodicals and package services, is available at tinyurl.com/67h8zbc.
