FRANKFURT – Germany's printed circuit board sales in March rose 7% sequentially, says ZVEI PCB and Electronic Systems.

Orders were weak year-over-year, however, the firm says.

The book-to-bill ratio reached 0.90, with backlogs well above the long-term average, says ZVEI.

Employee numbers increased slightly this year, but remain 3% below last year, with short-term contracts and temporary staff becoming more standard.