By Steve Angeles
.
Daly City, CA—Lorenzo de los Angeles stops by the post office at least once a week to pick up stamps and mail out packages. “It’s nice to send letters to people, especially people in the Philippines where they don’t have computers

Eddie Viray likes to visit the post office every once in a while. He worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 28 years. “Number one, it’s secure, no layoffs, good benefits, and it’s unionized,” Viray said of his old employer.

But the post office Viray once worked for is changing—it’s losing money, as much as eight billion dollars this year. Since 2006, the volume of mail has been going down. E-mail, online bill pay, and even online shopping are making snail mail obsolete.

Cynthia Garcia only uses the post office to pick up packages. She says she pays her bills through the internet. “Sa post office, it would take a minimum two to three days before it (the bill) reaches (its destination), so you have to mail in advance,” Garcia said.

Despite extra revenue from the DVD rental service Netflix, the Postal Service is not immune from the country’s economic downturn. Even recent positive news on the economic front has come with a silver lining. Unemployment benefit claims fell by 6,000 this week compared to last, to a total of just over 460-thousand claims. But economists say new claims have to consistently go below 425-thousand to signal a better job market. And the number of people losing their homes to foreclosure is dropping. Foreclosure listing company Realty Trac says foreclosures have dropped in the hardest hit states like California, Nevada, and Arizona, but remains high in Florida.  Overall, people dealing with foreclosure only grew six percent, the smallest growth in four years.
(Read the full article about foreclosures here)
(Read the full article about unemployment claims here)

The post office has a hiring freeze, and is considering eliminating Saturday service.

“You’ll still see letter carriers everyday if we go to 5 days, but you won’t see them Saturday. However our post offices will still remain open,” said USPS Spokesman James Wigdel.

The American Postal Workers Union says it has rejected the five day delivery proposal—and even if this happens, it says workers will continue to have 5 day workweeks.

To make up for losses, the post office is expanding services. The USPS now offers flat rate international shipping, and printing stamps at home. It’s also selling  stamps in ATM’s and supermarkets.

The USPS wants Congress to change rules that limit their services and fees. The proposed changes won’t happen until at least 2011. For now the post office hopes some new marketing and some changes from Congress will be enough to keep this American institution afloat.

.