Joe Corbett

USPS posted a net loss of nearly $2.3 billion for this fiscal year’s third quarter, higher than the loss reported by the agency for the same period last year.

Despite the surge in mail and packages from the holiday season and a bump in market mail leading up from last year’s midterm elections, the Postal Service ended the first quarter of fiscal 2019 worse off than the year before.

The day after getting the green light to significantly raise postal rates in 2019, the Postal Service marked its 12th straight fiscal year of net financial losses.

USPS improved its numbers across the board in 2016, reaching record growth in certain categories, but still lost money due to retiree health benefits prefunding requirements and April’s exigent rollback, which cost USPS about $1 billion this year.

The Postal Service continues to press for substantial legislation changes to remain a competitor in the mail and package delivery field. It recorded its ninth consecutive year of billion dollar losses.

Surplus payments the Postal Service made to the Federal Employee Retirement System are much smaller than once thought. Last year, the surplus was estimated to be $11.4 billion. But because of a reduction in projected long-term interest rates, OPM estimated the surplus would drop to $2.6 billion. SPS had wanted to use those overpayments to pay down some of its debts

Despite cutting 100,000 jobs over the past two years, CFO Joe Corbett tells Federal News Radio the USPS may not be able to stay liquid much past the next year.