BANNOCKBURN, IL – Printed circuit board orders at North American fabricators fell 18% year-over-year, pushing year-to-date orders down 8.1%. Sequentially, orders were down 14.3%, says IPC, which tracks the data.

The 90-day moving average shipments were up 0.1% year-over-year in May. Sequentially, PCB shipments declined 0.3%.

Year-to-date shipments were down 0.1% compared to the same period in 2013.

The North American PCB book-to-bill ratio dropped below parity to 0.98. A 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.

It was the lowest ratio since January, and reversed a two-month stint in positive territory.

“While sales growth is slowing, declining orders pushed the book-to-bill ratio below parity after just two months of positive ratios,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “This setback in the industry’s recovery is likely to be short-lived, given the positive economic outlook for North America this year.”