In September the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release their Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.
Each fall the US Postal Service uses this data to adjust postage rates across hundreds of rate cells. The proposed rates, which cannot exceed the CPI, are then submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission for review and approval. The 2020 rate changes will take effect on January 26, 2020.
We anticipate just over a 2 percent increase of First Class, Marketing and Periodical mail. There are hundreds of rate cells for the variety of classes of mail and their classification. While some rate cells will increase, others may decrease.
We will keep you informed of the process and approval and of course will update our Postage Rate Chart once the new rates are approved. For those planning postal budgets you can download the 2019 Postage Rate Chart and use a 2 percent increase as a baseline to prepare your budget.
