A Closer Look at Postal Labor Costs

The Postal Service continues to face financial challenges due to declines in letter mail volume. As declines persist, strategic cost control is one of the key factors that must be addressed. And clearly, labor costs will be a critical area, as it is the greatest component of postal costs — accounting for $57 billion or 76 percent of total costs in fiscal year 2018. As a result, we wanted to gain a clearer understanding of the sources of these significant costs and how they have changed in recent years.