New US domestic prices effective January 8, 2006

The Governors of the US Postal Service voted November 14 to accept the Postal Rate Commission’s recommendation to increase most rates and fees by approximately 5.4 percent. This price increase – the first since 2002 – is needed to fulfill a federal law passed in 2003 that requires the Postal Service to place USD.1 billion in an escrow account by October 1, 2006. Without this federal mandate, it would not have been necessary to raise prices in 2006. Among the adjustments, the 1 ounce single-piece rate for First-Class Mail will increase from 37 cents to 39 cents, and the postcard rate will increase by one cent, to 24 cents. The Board of Governors set Sunday, January 8, 2006, as the effective date for the new rates and fees.