Brazilian gross domestic product contracted by 3.6 percent last year, meaning the economy has been in recession for two years in a row, Bloomberg reports.

The news agency, citing the Brazilian statistics agency, says the economy was 0.9 percent smaller in the fourth quarter of last year, shrinking faster than before.

The report quotes Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles as saying figures for cardboard and motorcycle production, and figures for supermarket sales indicate that the recession is bottoming out.

Economists forecast that Brazilian GDP will grow by less than 1 percent this year, Bloomberg says.