McDonald's sees Jan same-store sales up

CHICAGO (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp (MCD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) expects sales to rise 1.5 percent in January at U.S. restaurants open at least 13 months, with the sluggish U.S. economy cutting into

sales, Chief Executive Jim Skinner said on Monday.

The company estimates that the current U.S. economic environment would cut same-store sales by 1 percentage point to 2 percentage points, Skinner said during a conference call with analysts.

He also forecast an 8 percent to 9 percent increase in same-store sales in Europe for January and forecast a 6 percent to 7 percent increase forecast for the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)