BANNOCKBURN, IL – Total North American printed circuit board shipments in February were up 8.8% year-over-year, says IPC. Year to date, shipments were up 9.3% compared to the same period last year. Sequentially, February shipments decreased 0.9%.

February orders increased 7.2% year-over-year, raising year-to-date order growth to 15.9% above the same period last year. Sequentially, orders were down 7.1%.

The book-to-bill ratio climbed to 1.17. A ratio of more than one suggests current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to 12 months.

“The North American PCB industry continued its robust recovery in February, with positive year-over-year sales growth for the sixth consecutive month,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “The outlook is also positive, based on strong order growth in recent months, and on the PCB book-to-bill ratio, which is above parity (1.0) for the 13th consecutive month and reached a new 12-year high in February.”