SAN JOSE – The underlying burdened cost of labor for EMS was basically unchanged in July/August, says a leading industry analyst.
 
The burdened cost of EMS labor in the fourth quarter is expected to be flat to very slightly lower in Mexico; marginally higher in Eastern Europe, Japan and China; and flat in the balance of the reported global geographies, Charlie Barnhart & Associates said.
 
Margins in all sectors are expected to remain relatively constant in the quarter, as backlogs and book-to-bill ratios stabilize.
 
Lead times remain relatively flat to slightly down, and are expected to improve slightly over the balance of 2009, but demand is expected to remain soft.
 
Historically, during times of flat to falling industry demand, average margin expectation tends to be flat to very slightly down at the higher tiers, down among mid-sized firms, and flat to up slightly on the smallest projects, the firm said.