Japanese people are becoming more pessimistic about the troubled economy and more worried that their society is becoming increasingly unstable, according to a survey released Saturday.

The Cabinet Office conducted the survey in December 2002, questioning 10,000 people aged 20 or older and getting responses from 68 percent, or 6,798.

Respondents were pessimistic about the Japanese economy, with 65.3 percent saying the business climate is likely to take a turn for the worse. That figure was up from the 46.9 percent registered in the 2001 survey.