BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American printed circuit board sales rebounded in February, outpacing orders and reducing the book-to-bill ratio to 1.02, says IPC.

North American PCB shipments for the month were up 8.9% year-over-year, bringing the year-to-date growth rate up to 3.6%. Sequentially, February shipments were up 10.1%.

PCB orders increased 2.7% year-over-year, bringing the year-to-date order decrease to 0.5%. Orders in February were down 2.3% sequentially.

“The February rebound in sales was the best news this month, following flat growth in 2015 and a slump in January,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “Also, the decrease in the book-to-bill ratio is not bad news because it was driven by strong sales growth, and it remained in positive territory, which is an indicator for continued sales growth in 2016.”

A book-to-bill 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 six months.

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