Are banks and post offices open on Juneteenth 2024?
June 19 marks Juneteenth Day in the United States. Is it an official celebration at the national level? Will banks and post offices be open?
On Wednesday, June 19, the United States celebrates Juneteenth Day, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day. Through this holiday, the country commemorates the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of African-American slaves in the United States.
Juneteenth Day: Is it a federal holiday?
Juneteenth is one of the eleven federal holidays celebrated in the United States. This is the newest celebration to be added to the federal calendar. It was only in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed a law to make Juneteenth Day an official nationwide holiday.
Prior to President Biden’s proclamation, only 47 of the nation’s 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, recognized Juneteenth Day as an official celebration. However, after pressure from the Black Lives Matter movement, legislation was finally signed to make the celebration a federal holiday.
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Are banks and post offices open on Juneteenth 2024?
As the celebration is considered a holiday at the national level, federal institutions suspend work, granting a paid day off to their employees. The day off only applies to the public sector, which means private companies and institutions reserve the right to give paid time off to their employees.
The USPS has announced that all post offices will be closed for retail transactions, and regular residential or business mail deliveries will be suspended for the holiday.
UPS and Fedex pickup and delivery services will be available on June 19.
The Federal Reserve System and U.S. stock markets will be closed on Wednesday, along with most banks, including Capital One, Bank of America, PNC, Truist, CitiBank and JPMorgan Chase. Majority of financial institutions follow the federal holiday calendar.
However, automated teller machines and mobile banking will operate normally for those who need to conduct some financial transactions.
What are the other federal holidays?
With the proclamation of Juneteenth Day, the number of official holidays increased to eleven. Here is the full list of federal holidays for the year.
- New Year: January 1
- Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (third Monday in January): January 15
- Washington's Birthday or Presidents' Day (third Monday in February): February 19
- Memorial Day (last Monday in May): May 27
- Juneteenth Day: June 19
- Independence Day: July 4
- Labor Day (first Monday in September): September 2
- Columbus Day (second Monday in October): October 14
- Veterans Day: November 11
- Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday of November): November 28
- Christmas: December 25