SAN JOSE, Dec. 17 -- The 90-day-moving average orders for North American-based semiconductor gear manufacturers was $1.35 billion in November, 2% below the revised October levels, but 46% above last year.

"Total orders for semiconductor equipment have declined about 16% from the peak observed in June, though they remain well above levels reported one year ago," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The North American equipment book-to-bill ratio increased in November as billings declined at a steeper pace than bookings based on a three-month average."

The orders average matched the 90-day average for shipments, good for a book-to-bill ratio of 1.0, said the trade group SEMI.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in November was $1.34 billion, down 6% from the revised October level and up 53% from November 2003.

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.