postal service
The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service said Thursday its net loss widened to $3.2 billion in the fiscal second quarter. Reuters

The money-losing U.S. Postal Service will stop delivering mail on Saturdays in a bid to save $2 billion in annual costs, according to a published report.

While the Postal Service will continue delivering packages on Saturday, it will end six-day mail delivery in August, The Associated Press said Wednesday. A formal announcement is expected on Wednesday.

The move is the latest by the Postal Service, which last year lost $16 billion, to stave insolvency. In January it implemented a price hike for sending most types of mail, the second increase in prices since 2009.

The Postal Service, which defaulted on payments to the federal government last year, has been ailing since 2006, when Congress ordered it to pre-fund health care benefits for future retirees.

It has responded with layoffs -- which are expected to hit 28,000 workers -- consolidation of offices and delivery centers as well as reduced budgets.

RELATED STORIES