The U.S. Postal Service, after backing off plans to close ruralpost offices, will stick with its proposal to shut mail-processingcenters, eliminating 5 percent of its workforce and saving $2.1billion annually.

The service, after a loss of $3.2 billion in the quarter endedMarch 31 and predicting it will temporarily run out of cash inOctober, intends to close about 140 plants in the next year andabout 90 in 2014, Chief Operating Officer Megan Brennan toldreporters today on a conference call. A first phase will save $1.2billion a year, she said.

The service has forecast a $9.1 billion loss for the fiscal yearending Sept. 30 and had said it might shut as many as 223 of its461 processing plants to consolidate operations in fewer places asmail volume declines. Lawmakers including U.S. Senator BernieSanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, haveasked the service to keep the plants open, including one thatemploys 250 people in his state.