USPS stamp price increase set to take effect in days with 4.8% hike

The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

• The U.S. Postal Service is set to roll out a price hike next week, including a 4-cent increase for a First-Class Mail Forever stamp, raising its price from 78 cents to 82 cents.
• The proposed adjustments, which are still under review, would result in an approximate 4.8 percent increase across mailing services product prices.
• The price changes will also impact other services, including metered letters, domestic and international postcards, international letters, and various other First-Class Mail, Periodicals, USPS Marketing Mail, and Package Services products.
• In an announcement about the price hikes, the Postal Service attributed the adjustments to a severe financial crisis and continued rising operational costs, emphasizing its reliance on postage sales for funding as it receives no tax dollars.
• The price of Forever stamps has steadily increased over the past six years. A Forever stamp cost 55 cents in 2020, though USPS insists its postage rates are among the lowest in the world.