US Postal Service seeks hike in price of first-class mail stamps to 82 cents in July

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) announced proposed price increases due to a "severe financial crisis." If approved, First-Class Mail Forever stamps would increase by four cents, reaching 82 cents effective July 12. Overall, mailing letters and postcards could rise by 4.8%.

This proposal follows USPS's previous plan to implement an 8% fuel surcharge on package deliveries amid rising operational costs. USPS, which does not receive tax funding, has suffered a significant decline in mail volume, losing over 104 billion pieces of mail since 2006. Postmaster General David Steiner warned that at current spending levels, the agency could run out of cash in less than a year.