WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service reported new delivery performance metrics for the fiscal third quarter through June 17 showing ongoing strong service performance across First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail and Periodicals.

Through the first twelve weeks of the third quarter, the average time for the Postal Service to deliver a mailpiece or package across the nation continues to be just 2.4 days.

Third quarter service performance scores covering April 1 through June 17 included:

• First-Class Mail: 93.5 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an increase of 5.6 percentage points from the fiscal second quarter.

• Marketing Mail: 94.8 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an increase of 2.6 percentage points from the fiscal second quarter.

• Periodicals: 86.3 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of 4.8 percentage points from the fiscal second quarter.

One of the goals of Delivering for America, the Postal Service’s 10-year plan for achieving financial sustainability and service excellence, is to meet or exceed 95 percent on-time service performance for all mail and shipping products once all elements of the plan are implemented. Service performance is defined by the Postal Service as the time it takes to deliver a mailpiece or package from its acceptance into our system through its delivery, as measured against published service standards.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.