The U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday that it plans to stop Saturday mail delivery to help trim costs. The new plan would mean a cost savings of about $2 billion a year.

"Our financial condition is urgent," Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe told reporters.

Beginning the second week in August 2013, mail will be delivered to homes and businesses Monday through Friday. However, delivery to post office boxes as well as package delivery will continue six days a week.

Postal officials say package delivery has increased 14 percent since 2010, while letters and other mail have declined with the increasing use of email and the Internet.

"The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America's changing mailing habits," Donahoe said.

"We developed this approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings," he explained.

During the past seven years, the struggling agency has cut annual costs by about $15 billion, trimmed its workforce by 28 percent and consolidated more than 200 mail processing locations.