New Stamp Price: 45 Cents

By Daniel Blake, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, January 22, 2012

The price of stamps will rise to 45 cents as of Sunday Jan. 22. The United States Postal Service (USPS) has raised the price one cent from 44 cents following its announcement in October.

The price rise is in fact the first increase since 2009, and comes as the USPS is losing billions of dollars annually, and is being forced to close offices across the nation.

In 2010 the USPS proposed to raise the cost of stamps by two cents, however, that was rejected by the Postal Regulatory Commission.

Sunday will also see other price increases, including:

- The cost of mailing a postcard increases 3 cents to 32 cents.

- The cost of mailing letters to Canada and Mexico rises 5 cents to 85 cents.

- The cost of mailing a letter to other countries rises 7 cents to $1.05.

"The overall average price increase is small and is needed to help address our current financial crisis," said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe in a statement released October. "We continue to take actions within our control to increase revenue in other ways and to aggressively cut costs. To return to sound financial footing we urgently need enactment of comprehensive, long-term legislation to provide the Postal Service with a more flexible business model."