U.S. during the month as customers came in for frappés and fruit smoothies.
But the results weren't as strong as analysts were expecting, largely on weakness in Europe, and shares fell Thursday morning.
The world's largest hamburger chain said that August sales at restaurants open at least 13 months climbed 4.9 percent. While the performance was strong, it is down from July's 5.7 percent rise -- the biggest monthly increase since a 6.1 percent gain in April 2009.
The measurement is for restaurant operators because it measures growth at existing locations. It excludes growth at stores that open or close during the year.
McDonald's Corp. said the figure climbed 2.2 percent in Europe on strong results in the U.K. and Russia. Limited items, such as the U.K.'s summer barbecue food event, drove sales.
Work on monument ongoing
Officials say an Ohio Lake Erie island landmark will remain closed in 2011 as repair work continues.
The 1915 Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial on South Bass Island near Put-in-Bay was shut down to tourists in November, when restoration began.
The 74-year-old elevator has already been fixed inside the 350-foot-tall monument, and superintendent Blanca Alvarez Stransky says the next phase includes installation of a drainage system. And, she says the National Park Service has awarded a $5.1 million contract to restore the monument's observation deck, where a 500-pound piece of concrete fell off in June 2006.
No one was hurt, but the concrete punched a hole into the plaza below.
The monument from 1915 commemorates a key victory in the War of 1812.
Zimbabweans driven to drink
Sales of beer have surged by 50 percent in Zimbabwe over the past year amid the misery of daily power and water outages and ongoing economic woes.
Health authorities also are reporting increases in illnesses linked to the consumption of illegal, homemade drinks with a high alcohol content made from potatoes, rags, chemicals, rotting vegetables and sugar.
One illegal liquor distilled over wood fires in the bush around Harare is known as "Take Me Quick."
"You can't plan ahead, not much further than a few days at a time, so why not have a beer?" said Stanley Chida, the owner of two discothèque clubs in downtown Harare.
The international Chronic Poverty Research Center said the temptation to escape into alcohol has only deepened the plight of impoverished communities across Africa.
Zimbabwe's market was liberalized after the country's coalition government abandoned the local currency in early 2009 and adopted the U.S. dollar.
Before that, store shelves were bare of basic goods, and acute beer and liquor shortages even shut down some bars.
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