Shrinking for the second straight month, output of the country's eight core sector industries contracted by 0.4 per cent in April this year, on poor performance of most sectors. Core sector output had declined by 0.1 per cent in March this year, and had grown 5.7 per cent in April last year. The output of crude oil fell 2.7 per cent in April this year, natural gas output dropped 3.6 per cent, electricity generation declined 1.1 percent, cement production fell 2.4 per cent, and refinery products output declined 2.9 per cent during the month. Overall growth of the eight core industries during the full 2014-15 fiscal slowed to 3.5 per cent, from 4.2 per cent in the previous fiscal.