The U.S. Postal Service’s net loss widened to $8.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, exceeding the $7 billion it had forecasted. As mail volumes have continued to decline, the U.S. Postal Service’s own efforts to cut costs haven’t been enough to stop the financial losses, according to the organization. “Over the last two years, the Postal Service realized more than $9 billion in cost savings, primarily by eliminating about 105,000 full-time equivalent positions,” said USPS CFO Joe Corbett, in a statement. However, the recent recession, continuing economic pressures and the ongoing migration of mail to electronic media continue to have an adverse impact on mail volumes. In 2010, mail volume totaled 170.6 billion pieces, a 3.5% decline compared to the 176.7 billion pieces mailed in 2009. First-Class Mail, the USPS’s most profitable product, saw volumes decline 6.6% in 2010 following drops of 8.6% in 2009 and 4.8% in 2008. Standard Mail volume has been one of the only bright spots, showing some gains late in 2010. However, volume for the year was still flat compared to 2009. The $8.5 bill net loss reported by the U.S. Postal Service is $4.7 billion higher than the 2009 reported loss it, mostly due to the revenue decline as well as the additional expenses associated with pre-funding health benefits for retirees and workers’ compensation. The U.S. Postal Service doesn’t expect to have enough liquidity at the end of fiscal 2011 to make all of its payments, including the $5.5 billion it is supposed to pay into a fund for retirees’ health benefits, unless it gets permission from Congress to close post offices and eliminate Saturday delivery. “The need for changes to legislation, regulations and labor contracts has never been more obvious,” said Corbett, in the statement.