FRANKFURT -- Germany region PCB manufacturers saw sales rise 6.2% year-over-year in February, continuing a steady expansion run.

Sales fell 10% sequentially, said the ZVEI trade association. Year to date sales are up 8.9% over 2017.

New orders fell 23% sequentially from strong January demand, and were down 19% from last year. Year to date, orders are down 1.6%.

The book-to-bill ratio dropped to 0.95, down 160 basis points from January and below the benchmark 1.0 that signals future growth. The ratio is determined by dividing the value of orders by the value of sales over a set period of time.

The number of staff employed at the region's PCB fabricators rose about 3% compared to February 2017.