Brazil's government says Latin America's largest economy has shrunk even more than expected.

The government statistics bureau said Tuesday the gross domestic product fell by 1.7 percent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months.

More worrisome is the cumulative number for 2015, which showed a drop of 3.2 percent, the worst result since 1996.

Families cut spending by 4.5 percent compared to the same quarter last year.

A global plunge in commodity prices continues to hurt Brazil, with the agriculture sector generating 2.4 percent less income than in the previous three months. A massive corruption scandal involving politicians and the state-run oil company has ensnared the biggest names in construction in the country and halted many projects.