U.S. Postage Goes Up In January 2019

Along with the New Years resolutions and calendars comes this change for 2019:  The price of U.S. postage is going up.  According to the United States Postal Service, the rate change will take effect on January 27, 2019.

The increase will raise the rate of First Class postage from 50-cents to 55-cents.  Other tiered mailing rates will also rise accordingly.  The net change equals a roughly 2.5% increase, however some of the tiers will rise 3.9% to 5.9%.

Interestingly enough there is a decrease built into the January 2018 rate adjustment;  The single-piece additional ounce price will be reduced to 15-cents, so a 2-ounce stamped letter - such as a typical wedding invitation - will cost less to mail, decreasing from 71 cents to 70 cents.

Since 2009, the cost of mailing a letter in the United States has risen just about each year.  Looking at the history of U.S. Postal Service rates, the rate has more-than doubled in the last 30 years.  It's also worth noting that postage rates have only gone down once - in 1919 when First Class postage dropped back from .03-cents to .02-cents.