US Postal Service Raising Rates

The U.S. Postal Service is raising the cost of a first-class stamp to 46 cents and priority mail an average of four percent, effective Jan. 27, according to the Associated Press.

The USPS also announced a new global "forever" stamp, which will allow customers to mail first-class letters anywhere in the world for $1.10.

Currently, it costs 85 cents to send a first-class letter to Mexico and Canada, and $1.05 to send first-class mail to other international destinations.

The postal service, which is facing a loss of $15 billion this year,  is only permitted to raise prices by the rate of inflation, which is 2.6 percent, according to the article. The USPS asked Congress to give permission to raise prices by 5 cents, but lawmakers have not done so yet.

According to Business Journal, the postal service began announcing plans to consolidate mail sorting facilities in August to help minimize losses. To save roughly $1.2 million in losses, 229 facilities will close in the next two years.