March 9 (Bloomberg) -- McDonald’s Corp., the world’s largest restaurant company, said global sales rose 1.4 percent in February as diners sought cheaper food.

Sales at U.S. restaurants open at least 13 months climbed 2.8 percent, while European orders fell 0.2 percent, Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s said today in a statement. Sales in Asia, the Middle East and Africa gained 0.7 percent.

Value meals, chicken sandwiches and Egg McMuffins are lifting McDonald’s sales in the U.S., where unemployment reached 8.1 percent in February, the highest in more than 25 years. Slowing economies in the U.K., Russia, Australia and Japan are also spurring sales of snack-sized sandwiches and chicken wraps.

“The recession-resistant nature of brand McDonald’s continues to perform comparatively well despite the increasingly difficult global macro-economic environment,” Paul Westra, an analyst with Cowen & Co. in New York, wrote in a March 3 note. He rates the stock “outperform.”

Westra estimated that global sales would gain 1 percent and that revenue in the U.S. and Europe would be unchanged. He projected orders in Asia, the Middle East and Africa would rise 5 percent.

McDonald’s rose 20 cents to $52.32 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have lost 16 percent this year.

The additional day in February 2008, a leap year, hurt this year’s February results by about 4 percentage points, the company said. Excluding the extra day, global sales were up 5.4 percent, and U.S. sales climbed 6.8 percent. Sales rose 4 percent in Europe and 4.1 percent in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

McDonald’s forecast that the stronger U.S. dollar will trim $600 million from sales and 7 cents to 9 cents from earnings in the first quarter. The dollar has gained 11 percent against the euro and the Australian dollar this year, and 5.5 percent against the British pound. It has climbed 21 percent against Russia’s ruble.

To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Dentch in New York at cdentch1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 9, 2009 16:20 EDT