SAN JOSE — Sales of software for semiconductor and printed circuit design rose 5.7% year-over-year in the December quarter, setting a new fourth-quarter mark in the process.

Sales were $1.88 billion for the period said the EDA Consortium, which tracks the data. Sequentially, revenue 8.7% for the period, while the four-quarters moving average, which compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters, increased 6.1%.

For the year, sales hit $6.93 billion, a new record. Printed circuit board and multichip module revenue jumped 14.2% to $190.8 million. The four-quarters moving average for PCB and MCM increased 6.6%.

"The EDA industry realized record revenues for the fourth quarter 2014 and the calendar year. This was the 16th consecutive quarter showing positive growth in the EDA industry," said Walden C. Rhines, chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics. "Revenues increased in all of the product categories, with double-digit increases in PCB and MCM. Geographically, the Asia-Pacific region continued to report double-digit growth, with significant growth in the Americas."

Employment among participating companies rose 1% year-over-year to 29,880 in the period.

Computer-aided engineering, the largest category, had sales of $721.7 million in the December quarter, up 4.1% from a year ago. IC physical design and verification revenue increased to $384.4 million in the fourth quarter 2013, a 6.6% increase compared to 2012. The four-quarters moving average increased 7.1%. Semiconductor intellectual property revenue totaled $486.8 million, up 4.2%, and services revenue rose 6.1% to $96.8 million.

The Americas, EDA's largest region, purchased $822.1 million of EDA products and services, up 7.2%. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) fell 0.7% to $328.9 million, and Japan decreased 0.9% $256.9 million. Asia/Pacific (APAC) revenue increased 12.1% to $472.7 million.

EDAC is a trade group made up of suppliers of electronics design automation software.