U.S. Postal Service announces new rate hikes

Some postage rates will go up in April, but not the price of first-class stamps, Express Mail or Priority Mail.

Rates will go up for postcards, periodicals, international letters, parcels and advertising mail on April 17 under rules that allow price increases within the rate of inflation, the Postal Service said Thursday. Postcard prices will climb by one cent to 29 cents.

The move affects some of the Postal Service's largest customers, including community newspapers, catalog companies, and companies who use bulk mail rates to send bills or other notices.

Though the price of a first-class stamp will stay the same, the cost for heavier letters will rise. The first 44 cents covers the first ounce, but the price for each additional ounce will climb from 17 cents to 20 cents.

The price hike should generate about $340 million through the rest of fiscal 2011, which ends in September, USPS said.

An attempt last year to raise stamp prices beyond the rate of inflation of 1.8 percent failed to win regulator approval. The Postal Service is appealing the decision by the Postal Regulatory Commission to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the PRC has until the end of the month to respond.