The wallets of Japan's workers ended up a bit fatter last year, with total earnings rising the most since 2010.

Total pay rose 0.5 percent from the previous year to an average ¥3.78 million ($33,673), while the number of hours worked dropped. Regular workers saw an increase in pay, while part-timers, who are an increasingly large sector of the workforce, saw their income decline 0.1 percent.

The rise provided some good news for workers and the government, which has repeatedly exhorted employers to boost workers' pay to create a virtuous cycle of rising wages and profits that translate into higher spending and inflation. Even so, total pay was still less than in 2014, showing the effect of stingy raises which are undercutting spending and inflation.