The cash-strapped US Postal Service is backing off a previous plan to shut down thousands of rural post offices.

Last summer, the agency said it was looking to close or consolidate thirty seven hundred post offices.

The new plan would keep most of the smaller post offices open, but with shorter hours.

The move is in response to a backlash against the massive closures.

The agency still has plans to force thousands of employees into part time positions.

The changes are expected to save five hundred million dollars a year.