Besides the 3¢ increase to 49¢ for a letter, the Postal Regulatory Commission also approved:

• 21¢ for additional ounces
• 34¢ for postcards
• $1.15 to all international destinations

It’s interesting that the PRC is granting this increase “to offset losses suffered as a result of the Great Recession of 2008-2009.” It calculates that as 25.3 billion pieces of mail, which would have brought in another $2.8 billion. The agency calls this more-than-inflation rate increase a “surcharge that will last just long enough to recover the loss.” That’s two years.

After that, prices are supposed to go back to the present rates, or the present rates plus inflation — and, with the Federal Reserve eases its controls on the economy to keep inflation low, that could be just about the same as the rates that start in 2014.