BANNOCKBURN, IL — Total North American printed circuit board shipments increased 4.8% year-over-year in March, with year-to-date shipments down 0.8%, says IPC. Sequentially, PCB shipments jumped 18.9%.

PCB orders were down 5.5% year-over-year. Year-to-date order growth, while still negative, improved, down 6.9%. Order growth climbed 20.9% sequentially.

The North American PCB book-to-bill ratio strengthened in March for the fourth straight month, reaching 1.01, just above parity. The ratio means $101 worth of boards were ordered for every $100 shipped. A ratio of more than 1.0 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to six months.

“The book-to-bill ratio’s climb and positive year-on-year sales growth in March are encouraging signs of a recovery ahead,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research.

She cautioned, however, that “the book-to-bill ratio has just reached positive territory after six consecutive months below 1.0. Economic indicators are positive for 2014, but the PCB industry’s recovery is developing slowly.”