Postal Service to Seek Hike in Price of First-Class Stamp

The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday that it will seek a one-cent increase in the price of a first-class stamp, bringing the cost of mailing a letter to 34 cents by early next year.

The Postal Service also proposed rate increases for most other classes of mail, including priority and express, periodicals and registered mail, and for services such as money orders.

The proposed increases average about 6% over all classes of mail, Einar V. Dyhrkopp, chairman of the postal board of governors, said.

Increases vary among the different types of mail, and some of the proposals drew some protest.

“It’s devastating. The average increase for [magazines] looks to be about 15%, which is a terrible blow,” said Jim Cregan of the Magazine Publishers Assn.

Priority mail would rise from $3.20 to $3.45 for the first pound, and the first half-pound of Express Mail would increase from $11.75 to $12.30.

The current 33-cent first-class rate took effect a year ago.

The Postal Service board of governors backed the increases, which will be reviewed by the independent Postal Rate Commission before the board takes final action. New rates would likely go into effect next year.

The Postal Service office had a $363-million profit in fiscal 1999 and is expecting to be about $100 million in the black this year, Postmaster General William Henderson said.

Those are the smallest profit margins in five years, however, and rising costs would lead the agency into the red without the planned increase, he said.