Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Postal Service finished its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31 with a net loss of $1.3 billion, compared with a loss of $3.3 billion in the year-earlier period.
Helping save money were cuts in operating expenses, down 9.8% for the quarter versus the year-earlier period. However, first-class mail, the Postal Service's most lucrative service, suffered a 4.5% decline in volume and a 3.1% drop in revenue, to $7.5 billion for the quarter.
The Postal Service did experience gains in standard mail, used most often for direct-mail advertising, up 3.1% to $4.6 billion for the quarter; shipping and package revenue, up 4.7% to $3.4 billion; priority mail revenue, up slightly to $1.7 billion; and parcel services, ahead 19.2% over a year ago to $571.0 million.
The Postal Service said last week it planned to stop Saturday delivery of most mail by August to further save money.
