The U.S. Postal Service had a loss of $1.9 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter, reigniting concerns about the service's viability as it projects as little as three days of operating cash in October.
The $1.9 billion loss is actually an improvement on the year before, the Wall Street Journal reports:
The U.S. Postal Service recorded a $1.9 billion loss in its most recent fiscal quarter, causing agency leadership to again warn lawmakers that it is running out of cash.
The loss for the quarter ended March 31, however, shrank 40% from a year ago. The narrower loss reflected smaller charges for future retiree health-care benefits, cost-cutting efforts and a slight increase in revenue.
The Postal Service increased revenue 0.7% in the quarter because of improvement in the package-delivery business. First-class letter mail, the most profitable product, declined again in volume.
The report does not make mention of the Postal Service's upcoming "cutting edge" clothing line, and what effect it could have on the bottom line.