HONG KONG, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Financial Secretary of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Paul Chan on Sunday condemned rioters' violent acts, warning that it could cause further damage on the already battered economy.

In an article published on his official blog, Chan said the mounting pressure from the ongoing social crisis on the economy would be passed onto the job market and trigger a rapid surge in unemployment if the economy, especially private consumption, continues to weaken.

Hong Kong's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 2.9 percent year on year in the third quarter, sharply down from a 0.4-percent growth in the second quarter. Accordingly, the HKSAR government cut its GDP forecast for 2019 to a negative 1.3 percent.

More than two percentage points of the third-quarter decline were contributed by the worst-hit sectors by the months-long unrest including retail sales, catering and hospitality, according to Chan.

He revealed that although the overall unemployment rate for the third quarter was a relatively moderate 2.9 percent, however, as unemployment rate is a figure lagging behind, if the overall economy especially private expenditure keeps weakening, the rate could surge dramatically in a short period of time.

"Facing an already weakening economy, any forms of strike would make things worse, making it more difficult for people to earn a living," Chan said.

"It was selfish and irresponsible of rioters to make ordinary citizens unable to go to work by blocking main roads and paralyzing public transport, causing inconvenience and even safety threats to the citizens," he added.

Chan expressed concerns that the economic outlook for the fourth quarter could be even worse, citing huge declines in the number of inbound visitors, retail sales volume and food and catering business performance observed in October.

Chan warned that violence and hatred are devouring Hong Kong and the society now needs to distance itself from violence more than ever. "whatever the excuse is, it cannot be the reason for violence. Now we need to draw a clear line with violence more than ever."

"If people use violence to pursue the so-called justice, even revenge, what's the difference between them and terrorists?" he asked.

Stopping violence and restoring social order are now the key priority of the HKSAR government, Chan said, calling for public support at this critical moment.