The general public in Hong Kong continue to be most concerned about economy and labor problems according to findings of a latest opinion poll, said the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) Thursday.

The survey, conducted by HAB from May 12 to 16, found that economy-related problems were issues which the public expressed most concern, with 46 percent of the respondents mentioning them.

Labor-related problems ranked second with 42 percent of the respondents mentioning them.

As a result of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak, there was an upsurge of public attention towards medical and health problems in Hong Kong, making it the third most important area of public concern.

The percentage rose abruptly to 33 percent from the usual two percent to three percent in past surveys.

Commenting on the findings, an HAB spokesman said the findings of this survey reflected particularly the impact of the SARS outbreak on the overall public sentiment in Hong Kong.

"We are pleased to note that our community has reacted to this unprecedented crisis with a high degree of resilience and sensibility. We are also thankful that the general public recognized the government's efforts in tackling the SARS-related problems," he added.

The survey was the 104th in the series. A total of 1,597 respondents, aged between 15 and 64, were successfully interviewed over the phone. They were chosen by random through the residential telephone directory.

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