In the first quarter of fiscal 2012, the U.S. Postal Service reported a net loss of $3.3 billion dollars on Thursday--a bad sign in what's supposed to be a strong quarter for the organization.

October through December is supposed to be one of the stronger periods for the Postal Service thanks to holiday shopping and shipping, but that was not the case this year, as the AP notes, "From October through December of 2011, losses were $3 billion more than during the same period in 2010."

"The mail agency says that at the rate it's going, it will run out of money by October," according to the AP. Reuters reports that the USPS will likely default on this year's prefunding payment and could hit its debt ceiling this fall. All told, the Postal Service lost $5.1 billion last year.

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Alexander Abad-Santos