BANNOCKBURN, IL — Total North American printed circuit board shipments increased 1.6% year-over-year in April. Year-to-date shipments were down 0.2%, says IPC.

Sequentially, PCB shipments declined 12%.

PCB orders strengthened, but were still down 1.5% year-over-year. Year-to-date orders were down 5.6%. Order growth fell 8.1% from the previous month.

The North American PCB book-to-bill ratio held steady in April at 1.01. A ratio of more than one suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to six months.

“With year-to-date growth rates improving but still negative, and a book-to-bill ratio just barely in positive territory for the second month, the North American PCB industry appears to be moving very slowly toward a modest recovery this year,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “The negative month-to-month growth rates in April reflect normal seasonal patterns,” she added.