Regulator approves penny increase in stamp price

The Postal Service’s regulator on Friday paved the way for the mail agency to raise postage prices in January.

USPS announced in October that it would raise the cost of sending a first-class letter to 46 cents and a postcard to 33 cents, both up a penny. 

With the Postal Regulatory Commission’s approval, those rate increases will now go into effect Jan. 27.

The Postal Service announced this week that it lost a record $15.9 billion in fiscal 2012, which ended Sept. 30. The agency is currently not allowed to raise stamp prices faster than the inflation rate, but has asked Congress for that authority.

Lawmakers in both chambers and in both parties are working on legislation to ease the Postal Service’s financial problems, with all sides hoping a deal gets done in the current lame-duck session of Congress.

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