More people are working in Hawaii than ever before, and the additional income being generated is keeping card machines whirling.

Consumers swiped and inserted their credit and debit cards in greater numbers during the fourth quarter as sales at businesses open at least a year increased 8.4 percent from the year-earlier period, according to the First Hawaiian Bank Business Activity Report released Sunday.

The state’s largest bank processed $820.6 million in transactions from its Hawaii merchants — the second-highest total since the bank began producing its reports in 2010. The percentage increase marked the 24th consecutive quarter of growth.

For the year, card sales were up 7 percent over 2014.

“Our feeling is that this is really a show of strength based on the employment numbers,” First Hawaiian Chairman and CEO Bob Harrison said. “The unemployment rate of 3.2 percent is the lowest since 2008. The strength of our economy is based on the consumer. More people are working, and that’s turning into more consumer spend(ing).”

For the second straight quarter, supermarkets led the way among 16 sectors with a 24.7 percent increase following a 28.6 percent increase in the July- September period. The supermarket sector, which had its strongest fourth quarter in six years, also was the top sector for the year with a 22.5 percent increase.

“I think the reason for the gains in supermarkets is the disposable income (of consumers) and the expanded offerings,” Harrison said. “Almost $18 million (in fourth-quarter supermarket spending) is a reasonable number, but it’s not the largest number compared to other sectors. We still have the strength of the economy (as the driver). And with more disposable income, supermarkets are benefiting.”

That certainly was the case at Marukai Wholesale Mart at the Dillingham location and Marukai Market Place at Ward Village as the stores performed better last quarter than the year-earlier period, according to Makoto Hanawa, product strategy manager in Hawaii for Marukai Corp.

“We are focused on the Japanese product, and our customers are very loyal,” Hanawa said. “They come to our store and enjoy the shopping. Many items our customers cannot get elsewhere. Marukai Hawaii carries many Japanese items.”

Hanawa, who grew up in Sendai, Japan, said the food available at Marukai is a big attraction for customers.

“We brought in many items from Japan, like Japanese rice crackers,” he said. “We have the biggest selection on the island. We have Oriental-cut meat, which is more thin-sliced and can be used for shabu shabu and sukiyaki.”

Marukai Corp. USA, which was purchased in 2013 by Don Quijote Holdings, has two stores on Oahu. The Dillingham location is a membership store which provides discounts for members but is open to anyone to shop. The Ward location, which does not require a membership, will close at an undetermined date as part of Howard Hughes Corp.’s Ward Village redevelopment.

First Hawaiian, which is the largest bank in Hawaii with $18.9 billion in assets, is able to monitor broad economic activity in the state through its card proc­essing services because it is the islands’ largest local processor of debit and credit card transactions. The bank has nearly 7,000 merchants in its network, with most of those in the state.

Harrison said he’s not surprised at the longevity of the current economic expansion following the end of the 18-month recession in June 2009.

“This recovery is a much slower recovery than your traditional recovery,” he said. “Most recoveries, by year two or three, you see a substantial snapback. This recovery has been slow and steadily building over a long period of time. These strong numbers (in the business activity report) reflect that. I think it’s much closer-tied to employment and personal consumption spending.”

There were other double-digit gainers last quarter besides supermarkets among the sectors tracked by the bank. Sales in the utilities/communications sector soared 16.9 percent, hotels rose 12.8 percent, automotive increased 12.1 percent, home improvement gained 11.8 percent and restaurants increased 10.7 percent.

Hotels led the way with the highest dollar volume of any of the sectors at $164.5 million, with restaurants close behind at $154 million.

Retail (off 1.3 percent), insurance (off 2.4 percent) and travel agencies (off 2.7 percent) were the only sectors in negative territory for the quarter.

For the year, supermarkets (up 22.5 percent), utilities/communications (up 16.9 percent), shipping (up 16 percent) and convenience stores (up 11.1 percent) were all up double digits, while travel agencies lagged the sectors at minus 4.7 percent.