USPS reports $2.5B loss in third quarter as financial woes persist

Business USPS reports $2.5B loss in third quarter as financial woes persist Comments: by Mira Bhakta - 08/08/26 3:18 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Mira Bhakta - 08/08/26 3:18 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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The United States Postal Service’s (USPS) net losses for the third quarter of 2026 reached $2.5 billion, the agency reported Friday, as its leadership continues to look for solutions to prevent an impending liquidity crisis.

These numbers are down from last year’s third quarter, with USPS then reporting $3.1 billion in losses.

While the agency credited the difference in amounts to decreasing workers compensation, saving $416 million and increasing operation revenue by $1.1 billion, it is still operating in a major deficit.

The operating revenue for this quarter was $19.9 billion, a 6.1 percent increase from last year, but a drop from last quarter’s $20.2 billion.

“The Postal Service is today continuing to face a severe liquidity crisis, and our financial losses this quarter reflect systemic challenges inherent in our Congressionally established business model and regulatory framework,” Postmaster General David Steiner wrote in a statement Friday.

USPS is expected to run out of cash by early 2027, Steiner told the Associated Press in March.

Currently, the agency has a $15 billion cap on its federal borrowing allowance, which was first established in 1990. As operating costs balloon, officials said they’re forced to rely on revenue to make up its losses.

In a March 17 congressional subcommittee hearing, Steiner proposed raising the price for First-Class stamps, which he said remains one USPS’s greatest revenue sources, from 90 to 95 cents.

“If we were to change the stamp price to 90 to 95 cents, which is still less than half of the cost of most foreign posts, that would largely solve our controllable loss,” Steiner told House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The postmaster general has also pushed back on bipartisan efforts in the Senate to add over 70 new zip codes. In a December 2025 letter to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky), who also chairs the House Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Steiner wrote that the move would cost the postal service $800 million.

In April, USPS temporarily suspended its employer contributions to federal pension programs and increase postage rates — raising the price of a First-Class Mail Forever Stamp by 4 cents, which went into effect in July.

“We are taking responsible steps to conserve cash to extend our operating window, but we require thoughtful legislative and other actions to establish a financially sustainable Postal Service capable of serving the American public far into the future,” Steiner wrote in Friday’s statement.

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