Posted By thestatedtruth.com on November 12, 2010

The trouble continues at the U.S. Postal Service.  It lost a record $8.5 billion, and said almost two thirds of the deficit, or $5.5 billion, covered health-benefit costs for future retirees.  Hey, here’s a novel idea (not)…. let’s raise the cost of postage stamps every year, that way the postal workers can keep their retirement benefits. 

The U.S. Postal Service said its loss widened to a record $8.5 billion in the year ended Sept. 30.  This exceeded its forecast while the volume of mail declined.

Revenue fell 1.5 percent to $67.1 billion for the year and mail volume dropped 3.5 percent, according to a presentation to the service’s board today at a meeting in Washington. The loss in the previous fiscal year was $3.8 billion, the service said.

The Postal Service, which forecast a $7 billion loss, said almost two thirds of the deficit, or $5.5 billion, covered health-benefit costs for future retirees. An additional $2.5 billion covered adjustments to workers’ compensation liabilities for interest rate changes. The loss for 2011 will be $6.4 billion, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said today.

“We expect to go through the year with sufficient cash to continue operations,” Corbett said. “However at the end of the year, we don’t expect to have sufficient cash to pay all of our obligations, primarily the $5.5 billion retiree health payment due at the end of the year.”

More at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-12/u-s-postal-service-loss-more-than-doubles-to-8-5-billion-as-volume-drops.html

Categories: Economy, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street
Tags: postal service, U.S. postal service