New York, January 23 (FinanceEnquiry.com) - The U.S. Postal Service announced that its rate for first-class postage stamps is being hiked with effect from Sunday from 44 cents to 45 cents, a hike of 1 cent. This minimal rate increase would enable USPS to generate about one billion dollars a year. This hike comes at a time when the postal services are being used by very few people, leading to a loss of $5 billion in 2011.

However, analysts are skeptical about whether this move would be of any help to rescue the U.S. Postal Service as more and more companies are reducing their dependence on using the postal service. The whole emphasis is gradually shifting to electronic and digital methods of communication. As such, there will only be need to use the postal service in an odd case of sending a box or a letter and the latest rate hike will not hurt anyone.

Other features of the latest rate hikes include increase of 3 cents for sending a post card, increase of 5 cents for letters to Canada and Mexico and an increase of 7 cents for other international mail. The package rate will also go up by about 2 percent across the board. Consumers are also getting more cost-conscious as they check out the competitors of the postal service, such as FedEx and UPS before deciding what would be better for them.