SAN JOSE — North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers saw orders outpace shipment revenues in January for the first time since last spring, raising hopes that a recovery is imminent.

For the month, the 90-day moving average orders worldwide was $1.09 billion, up 17.2% from revised December levels and 8.5% below last year's pace.

Worldwide billings were down 23.2% from a year ago and 5.4% from last month to $952.1 million.

The book-to-bill ratio jumped to 1.14, the first time since May 2012 that the ratio topped the benchmark 1.0 level, and the highest mark since September 2010. A book-to-bill of 1.14 means that $114 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed.

Source: SEMI, February 2013