SAN JOSE, Aug. 19 -- The July 90-day average of semiconductor equipment bookings showed orders outpacing sales by a margin of 1.05:1.

North American-based semi tool makers posted $1.61 billion in orders in July, using a three-month average basis, the trade group SEMI said today. Bookings were even with revised June numbers and 128% ahead of a year ago.

A book-to-bill of 1.05 means that $105 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The July 90-day average of worldwide billings was $1.54 billion, up 2% over revised June levels and 96% ahead of last year.

"Bookings have increased sequentially for eleven months and are at the highest point since early 2001," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The bookings and billings values for North American-based equipment companies have stabilized at high levels and support our global billings outlook for the second highest revenue year on record for our industry."