First-Class Stamps To Cost 49 Cents As Of January 26, 2014

USPS service delivery truck in a residential area of San Francisco, California (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WASHINGTON — Mailing a letter is about to get a little more expensive.

Regulators on Tuesday approved a temporary price hike of 3 cents for a first-class stamp, bringing the charge to 49 cents a letter in an effort to help the Postal Service recover from severe mail decreases brought on by the 2008 economic downturn.

Many consumers won’t feel the price increase immediately. Forever stamps, good for first-class postage whatever the future rate, can be purchased at the lower price until the new rate is effective Jan. 26.

The higher rate will last no more than two years, allowing the Postal Service to recoup $2.8 billion in losses. By a 2-1 vote, the independent Postal Regulatory Commission rejected a request to make the price hike permanent, though inflation over the next 24 months may make it so.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20131225/first-class-stamps-to-cost-49-cents-as-of-jan-26

Reading Postal Facility To Lose 162 Jobs

USPS service delivery truck in a residential area of San Francisco, California (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. Postal Service will close most operations in the Gus Yatron mail processing facility in north Reading by June 1 – and all of them by July 1 – transferring its work to a larger Harrisburg facility as part of a nationwide cost-cutting effort.

The move is expected to save $7.2 million a year, but it means the Yatron facility at 2100 N. 13th St. will lose 162 jobs.

However, the Harrisburg facility will add 87 jobs that many local employees will get.

The retail and bulk operations and their related services – such as post office boxes and counter service – will remain at the Yatron facility, Postal Service spokesman Ray V. Daiutolo Sr. said Thursday.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=464267