USPS Raising Forever Stamp Price on Sunday

Starting next week, mailing a first-class letter will cost you 82 cents instead of 78. The US Postal Service is again lifting the price of Forever stamps—its sixth increase in five years—as it tries to narrow persistent multibillion-dollar losses amid falling mail volume and rising costs, reports CBS News. Five things to know:

• Effective Sunday, the Forever stamp price will increase by four cents; domestic postcards will go to 65 cents (from 61), and international postcards and letters to $1.75 (from $1.70).
• A 2006 law that forced the USPS to prepay retiree health benefits helped put the agency in the red; it lost $9 billion in the last fiscal year, during which US mail volume sagged 3.7%.
• Postmaster General David Steiner in March indicated a first-class stamp price of 95 cents "would largely solve our controllable loss."
• Any Forever stamps previously purchased at lower prices will still cover a one-ounce letter.
• USA Today reports that when Forever Stamps debuted in 2007, they cost 41 cents. That means the price has doubled in 19 years.