U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 8

WASHINGTON, July 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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FRIDAY, JULY 8: POSTAL RATE GOES TO 3 CENTS

Profile America — Friday, July 8th.  This week in 1932, Americans were discussing the impact of a postal rate hike.  The cost of mailing a first-class letter went up from 2 to 3 cents — a rate that would remain in effect until raised by a penny in 1958.  For that price, most homes across the country had mail delivered twice a day.  Of course, in 1932, the U.S. population was just over 123 million, compared to the more than 300 million of today.  The U.S. Postal Service now delivers over 177 billion pieces of mail annually — down from more than 212 billion in 2007.  At the same time, the number of postal employees has dropped from 843,000 in 1990 to 712,000 today.  Profile America is in its 15th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:  440 International Calendar of Events

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2011, 1126

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).  

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau