Post by red on Jan 6, 2006 8:59:58 GMT -8
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. postage rates go up starting on Sunday for the first time since 2002, raising the price of mailing a first-class letter by two cents to 39 cents.
The increases will affect all types of mail and packages, including postcards, which will go up by a penny to 24 cents.
The increases of around 5 percent will help build a congressionally mandated reserve fund. According to a 2003 law, the U.S. Postal Service must put $3.1 billion into an "escrow account" by September 30.
Postal service spokesman Jim Quirk said Congress was to decide within 180 days after passage of the law what the money would be used for, but that has not happened. "Two years have passed and that determination has not yet been put into law."
Without the reserve requirement, the service could have avoided a rate increase this year, Quirk said.
The postal service ended its 2005 fiscal year on September 30 with $1.4 billion in net income on operating revenues of $69.9 billion.
The cost to mail an item weighing up to half of a pound via Express Mail, the postal service's fastest delivery method, will rise to $14.40 from $13.65. Priority Mail, which delivers packages in an average of two to three days, will cost $4.05 for packages up to one pound, up from $3.85.
International rates will rise by similar amounts. Mailing a first class letter to Europe or Asia will cost 84 cents, up four cents.
The price of a regular first-class stamp rose three cents in June of 2002.
The increases will affect all types of mail and packages, including postcards, which will go up by a penny to 24 cents.
The increases of around 5 percent will help build a congressionally mandated reserve fund. According to a 2003 law, the U.S. Postal Service must put $3.1 billion into an "escrow account" by September 30.
Postal service spokesman Jim Quirk said Congress was to decide within 180 days after passage of the law what the money would be used for, but that has not happened. "Two years have passed and that determination has not yet been put into law."
Without the reserve requirement, the service could have avoided a rate increase this year, Quirk said.
The postal service ended its 2005 fiscal year on September 30 with $1.4 billion in net income on operating revenues of $69.9 billion.
The cost to mail an item weighing up to half of a pound via Express Mail, the postal service's fastest delivery method, will rise to $14.40 from $13.65. Priority Mail, which delivers packages in an average of two to three days, will cost $4.05 for packages up to one pound, up from $3.85.
International rates will rise by similar amounts. Mailing a first class letter to Europe or Asia will cost 84 cents, up four cents.
The price of a regular first-class stamp rose three cents in June of 2002.