Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Postal Service posted a net loss of $816 million for the month of November, the second month of its fiscal year. Of that amount, $467 million was due to a required prepayment into the USPS Retiree Health Benefit fund, which the Postal Service has defaulted on paying for the past two years.
Despite the November loss, fiscal year-to-date results have been mixed. While November mail volume declined by 3.4%, it is up 2.8% year to date. Similarly, total revenue was down 1.3% in November but up 2.2% for the first two months of the fiscal year, and standard-mail revenue, used most often for marketing mailings, was down 4.3% in November but up 3.0% year to date.
First-class mail, the USPS' most profitable product, accounting for 43% of total revenue, continued to decline both in November (off 5.0%) and year to date (down 2.0%).
