Postal Service files plans to raise first-class letters to 63 cents come January 2023

The U.S. Postal Service announced a parcel of rate increases Friday afternoon, the latest in a series of semi-annual rate hikes officials say the quasi-governmental corporation needs to keep pace with inflation and maintain a balanced budget.

Postal officials filed a notice of the intended rate hikes with the independent Postal Regulatory Commission and said first-class rates would increase by 4.2% to help keep pace with inflation.

Starting Jan. 22, 2023, a one-ounce first-class letter will cost 63 cents to mail domestically, up from the 60-cent price imposed on July 10. Metered letters will go to 60 cents from the current 57-cent rate, and sending a postcard will go from 44 cents to 48 cents, the agency said.

The USPS said that overseas one-ounce letters and postcards will go to $1.45 from $1.40. The current 24 cents-per-ounce charge for additional ounces in domestic letters will remain unchanged.

“As operating expenses continue to rise, these price adjustments provide the Postal Service with much-needed revenue to achieve the financial stability sought by its Delivering for America 10-year plan,” the USPS said in a statement. “The prices of the U.S. Postal Service remain among the most affordable in the world.”

Not everyone is a fan of the new rate hike schedule, however. On Sept. 9, Rep. Gerry Connolly, Virginia Democrat, introduced H.R. 8781, the  “Ensuring Accurate Postal Rates Act,” which would direct the independent Postal Regulatory Commission to review the current USPS rate-making system and take into account recent legislation that removed a pre-funding requirement for retiree health benefits and eliminated existing debts for such payments.

Mr. Connolly’s bill was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, but no further action has been scheduled. 

In August, the USPS said it had a net income of $59.7 billion in its third fiscal quarter, but Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Government Executive magazine that raising rates on large mailers was key to keeping the agency in the black.