The industrial production contracted by 4.2 per cent in October, sharpest decline in at least two years, on poor show by manufacturing sector and dip in the output of capital as well as consumer goods. The factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had declined by 1.2 per cent in the same month last year. For September, it was revised to 2.8 per cent from the provisional estimates of 2.5 per cent released last month, according to the data released by the Central Statistics Office today. During the April-October period, IIP rose 1.9 per cent, as against 0.2 per cent in same period of last fiscal. Manufacturing output, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, contracted by 7.6 per cent in October, compared to a dip of 1.3 per cent in the same month a year ago.For April-October, the sector saw an output growth of 0.7per cent, compared to a contraction 0.1 per cent in the year-ago period. The production of capital goods, a barometer of demand, declined by 2.3 per cent in October, as against a growth of 2.5 per cent in same month of last year. During April-October period, the output of capital goods grew by 4.8 per cent as against a dip in production by 0.2 percent. The consumer goods output too contracted by 18.6 percent in October as against a decline in output at 5 per cent logged a year ago.For April-October, the segment showed a contraction of 6.3 per cent, compared to a decline of 1.7 per cent in the same period of 2013-14. Overall, 16 of the 22 industry groups in manufacturing showed negative growth in October.Retail inflation has dropped to a fresh low of 4.38 per cent in November, the fifth consecutive month of decline. It stood at 5.52 per cent last month, while same was over double the current level at 11.16 per cent in November 2013. According to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation today, the food inflation came down to 3.14 per cent in November as against 5.59 per cent in the previous month. Retail prices of vegetables declined by 10.9 per cent as against a decline of 1.45 per cent in October. However, the rate of inflation in protein-rich items like eggs, fish and meat was at 6.48 per cent in November, slightly higher from 6.34 per cent in the previous month.