Slump in the production of crude oil and natural gas, pushed the growth rate of eight core sector industries to three-month low of 2.4 per cent in December last year. In November last year the growth rate was 6.7 percent.Data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed that, the production of crude oil declined by 1.4 per cent, natural gas by 3.5 per cent and fertilizer by 1.6 per cent, whereas steel output reduced by 2.4 per cent. Electricity generation slumped 3.7 percent in December last year from 7.6 per cent in December 2013. However, coal production grew by 7.5 and refinery products by 6.1 per cent. During April-December, the eight sectors grew by 4.4 percent as against 4.1 per cent in the same period of last year.