Springfield and its surrounding cities and towns lost a collective 5,600 jobs in July, a further sign of a stalling economy. “It’s a continuous story. There is just too little demand for goods and services,” said Karl J. Petrick, an assistant professor of economics at Western New England University. “Probably the best we can hope for is slow growth. The best we can hope for is to just narrowly avoid sliding back into recession.” Springfield’s unemployment rate rose last month to 12.5 percent from 12 percent recorded in June, according to the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development...
