WASHINGTON, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A first-class U.S. postage stamp will jump 3 cents in price to help the Postal Service make up losses from the Great Recession, the postal regulator said.

Similar increases will apply to magazines and advertising mail, the Postal Regulatory Commission said.

The hike, raising a first-class stamp to 49 cents from 46 cents, starts Jan. 26 but is temporary, lasting "just long enough to recover the loss," Chairwoman Ruth Goldway said in announcing the increase.

She predicted "just long enough" would be close to two years.

The independent regulatory commission determined the Postal Service's loss, caused by a substantial 25.3 billion-piece drop in mail volume, was $2.8 billion between 2008 and 2011, Goldway said.

The commission in its 2-1 ruling rejected the Postal Service's request to make the increase permanent, saying the service "failed to provide justification for permanent price increases in connection with recession-related mail volume losses."