(Washington D.C.) - The cost of a stamp will go up soon after the New Year.

 

Beginning January 21st, the U.S. Postal Service will increase the cost of a stamp from 66 cents to 68 cents for letters weighing one ounce or less.

 

Package shipping costs are also slated to increase by nearly six percent, with Priority Mail Express costs going up by 5.9 percent, Priority Mail increasing by 5.7 percent, and Ground Advantage going up by 5.4 percent.

 

These price hikes, the fifth increase in two years, are part of the Postal Service's ten-year 'Delivering for America' plan to raise rates and recover from plunging profits.

 

USPS is projecting a $160 billion loss over the next ten years

 

Some of the cost-cutting measures have already translated into slower deliveries, while the increased prices will more significantly affect residents in non-contiguous states and territories, like Alaska and Hawaii. Those areas will see an increase of more than nine percent, which has prompted lawmakers like Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan to ask Postmaster General and USPS CEO Louis DeJoy to reconsider the plan.

 

"No state, including Alaska, should be punished by our own federal government because of geography," said Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan in a prepared statement.