Postage Rates Could Jump 7.6% During 2021
December 14, 2020
The Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers (ANM) estimates that the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) could raise postal rates beyond inflation by as much as 5.6 percent to 7.6 percent. Executive Director Stephen Kearney said USPS will do its own calculations that might be a little different but not by much.
Total authority above the Consumer Price Index (CPI) would be 5.6 percent for compensatory products, which includes First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail Letters, and 7.6 percent for non-compensatory, such as periodicals and Marketing Mail Flats.
USPS could file notice with the PRC by the end of December for each of those rate authorities and how much of the authority would be used. Kearney said the PRC could approve that by the end of March, which then would require 90 days for implementation, bringing it to summer. “Of course, things could happen slower,” Kearney said, but the beginning of July would be the earliest it could happen.