Postal Service, on ’tightrope,’ loses $15.9 billion in fiscal ’12

— The U.S. Postal Service said its net loss last year widened to $15.9 billion, more than the $15 billion it had projected, as mail volume continued to drop, falling 5 percent.

Without action by Congress, the service will run out of cash Oct. 15, 2013, after it makes a required workers compensation payment to the U.S. Labor Department and before revenue typically jumps with Christmas season mailing, Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett said.

The service, whose fiscal year ended Sept. 30, lost $5.1 billion a year earlier. It announced the net loss Thursday at a meeting at its Washington headquarters.

“We are walking a financial tightrope,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said at the meeting. “Will we ever stop delivering the mail? It will never happen. We are simply too important to the economy and the flow of commerce.”

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