This is a follow-up to the VSC article with the press release from when the U.S. Postal Service filed for the increase in April 2022. The new rates went into effect on Sunday, July 10^th.

The Mailing Services price changes include:

There were also changes to the fees for Special Services products including Certified Mail, Post Office Box rental fees, Money Order fees and the cost to purchase insurance when mailing an item.

You can find a complete listing of all the current rates here in a .pdf on the USPS.com website. Also see “Basic Pricing for First-Class Mail® & First-Class® Package Service” about midway down on this page. It may be easier to read than this screen shot of that page (although if you click on this picture, you’ll see a larger version). According to the USPS, the changes “raised First-Class Mail prices approximately 6.5 percent which is lower than the Bureau of Labor Statistics annual inflation rate of 7.9 percent as of the end of February.”

“With the new prices, the Postal Service will continue to provide the lowest letter-mail postage rates in the industrialized world and offer a great value in shipping,” the USPS said in April.

As it does in many press releases, the USPS ended with “The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations.” For many years, the agency did not include the word “generally.” However, it does receive tax dollars for the free-frank (no charge) mailing services it provides to Members of Congress and active-duty military.