Business in brief: United orders 50 jets from Boeing, Airbus

United Airlines said on Tuesday it will spend billions over the next decade on 50 new jets, splitting its order between Boeing Co.’s 787 and the Airbus A350.

Deliveries are expected between 2016 and 2019. The planes will replace United’s Boeing 747 and 767s.

At list prices the new jets would be worth more than $10 billion, with about $4 billion for Boeing’s 787-8 and around $6 billion for the Airbus planes. United President John Tague said the carrier got a discount on the price, which is common for jet orders, though he didn’t specify how much.

Both planes have two aisles and would usually be used on international flights. The 787-8 seats 210 to 250 people. Airbus said the A350 seats 314 in a typical configuration. Both can fly more than 9,000 miles – enough to go nonstop from United’s hub in Chicago to Shanghai.

United made its last jet order in 1998, and hasn’t taken a delivery since 2002.

Associated Press

China continues boom as biggest auto market

SHANGHAI – China extended its lead over the U.S. as the world’s biggest auto market in November, with production and sales more than doubling from a year earlier to both surpass 1 million vehicles.

The Shanghai-based China Passenger Car Association, a private research group, reported Tuesday that sales of cars and trucks hit 1.01 million in November, up 104 percent from the same month last year, while production was 1.08 million, up 101 percent.

Total vehicle sales surpassed 12 million in January-November, with the total for the year likely to exceed a record 13 million, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

China’s auto market is sizzling, by any measure, thanks largely to tax cuts and subsidies aimed at supporting the industry and encouraging use of more fuel efficient vehicles.

Associated Press

High unemployment rate hurting McDonald’s sales

CHICAGO – The supersized recession that was a boon for business last year caught up further with McDonald’s Corp. 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 likely 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,” said Morningstar restaurant analyst R.J. Hottovy.

On Tuesday, 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.

Tuesday’s results were only the fourth U.S. decrease in 6 1/2 years.

Associated Press