SAN JOSE — North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers posted $1.55 billion in orders worldwide in November, up 25% from a year ago.

Orders were up 4% from the revised October figures, which are based a moving average of on the previous 90 days. The data are compiled by the SEMI trade group.

The book-to-bill ratio for the month rose five basis points to 0.96. A book-to-bill of 0.96 means that $96 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month. A ratio below 1.0 is considered an indicator of a near-term slowdown.

The 90-day average worldwide billings in November was $1.61 billion, down 1.1% lower than the final October 2016 level and up 25.2% from November 2015.

“As 2016 comes towards a close, equipment spending is stronger than expected at the start of the year," said Dan Tracy, senior director, SEMI. "Spending has been driven by 3D NAND, leading-edge foundry, and advanced packaging investments, and these segments are key for the expected spending growth in 2017."

Source: SEMI (December 2016)