CHICAGO — The supersized recession that was a boon for McDonald’s business last year caught up some with the burger franchise in November, as high unemployment ate into sales. While the world’s largest burger chain is still faring better than its competitors, who’ve increasingly been pushing value menus and discounts of their own, the restaurant’s fortunes probably won’t improve unless the U.S. economy does.
“I think ultimately we’ll need job growth to get things turned around to get back in the positive territory,” Morningstar restaurant analyst R.J. Hottovy said.
McDonald’s said sales at restaurants open at least a year fell 0.6 percent in the U.S. It was the second consecutive monthly decline for the measure, an important indicator of a restaurant chain’s health, and a steeper fall than October’s 0.1 percent.
“It appears that after nearly six years of consistent gains, further increases in U.S. comps will be more labored,” Standard & Poor’s restaurant analyst Mark Basham said in a research note. The Associated Press
