Standard Mail volume continued to grow in the third quarter of 2010 following a slight uptick in the second quarter but, overall Standard Mail volume levels still remain below 2008 levels, according to a recent filing by the US Postal Service with the Postal Regulatory Commission. In the third quarter ended June 30, total mail volume dropped 1.7% compared to the same period last year, with First Class volume down 6.7%. One bright spot, however, was a 4.2% growth in volume posted by Standard Mail, which had an additional 794 million Standard Mail pieces in the mailstream during the period. This follows a 0.6% increase in Standard Mail volume in the second quarter of 2010. For the first nine months of the year, however, Standard Mail volume decreased 2.8%. According to the US Postal Service, Standard Mail volumes have been significantly impacted by the decline in advertising spending resulting from the recent recession and remain 3.7 billion pieces below the 2008 third quarter level. “In addition to the impact of the troubled economy on Standard Mail volumes, advertisers continue to become more sophisticated in the targeting of their mailings, further reducing mail volume. It appears that advertising mail has begun to slightly increase as the economy improves; however increased migration of advertising to the Internet or other media will continue to adversely impact volumes for the foreseeable future,” the US Postal Service wrote in its recent filing. Periodicals volume was down 6.8% for the third quarter of 2010 and down 8.5% for the first nine months of the year; package service volume dropped 9.3% in the third quarter and declined 11.7% for the first nine months, and shipping services volume increased 4% in the third quarter and was up 2.6% for the first nine months. “The decline in revenues and volumes for both the quarter and nine months ended June 30, 2010, can largely be attributed to the lingering effects of the recent recession and its impact on the rate at which mail is migrating from traditional postal hard copy services to electronic media,” the US Postal Service wrote in its filing. The US Postal Service posted a net loss of $3.5 billion for the third quarter of 2010.