The U.S. Postal Service is facing a whole host of problems: The rise of electronic communications, a corresponding decline in lucrative mass-market "junk" mail, federal regulators who won't allow it to cut Saturday services or raise stamp prices, and Congressional opposition to making other cuts. While the independent agency confronts federal oversight, it's also planning to close thousands of locations, mostly in rural and sparsely populated suburban areas. (Watch a local report about closing Post Offices.) Here's a look at USPS cost-cutting, by the numbers:
532,800
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32,000
Approximate number of USPS locations
16,000
Approximate number of USPS locations currently operating at a deficit
2,000
Approximate number of branches and stations the USPS wants to close this year
491
USPS locations to be closed by the end of June
408
Number of those locations that are already out of service, in some cases due to fires and weather damage
$500 million
Amount those closures would save over two years, according to USPS officials
$8.5 billion
USPS losses in fiscal 2010
$7 billion
Expected losses in the current fiscal year
$12 billion
Amount the USPS owes the U.S. Treasury
50
Percentage of the Postal Service's current infrastructure it plans to cut by 2020
64
Percentage of Americans who opposed closing USPS branches, in a March 2010 poll
213 billion
Pieces of mail the USPS delivered in 2006, its peak year
171 billion
Pieces of mail delivered in 2010
150 billion
Pieces of mail it expects to deliver a decade from now
19
Percentage of Postal Service revenue generated online
Sources: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, Cato Institute
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