SAN JOSE — North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers posted 90-day moving average orders of $1.33 billion worldwide in October, up 20.3% from a year ago.

Orders were down 14.7% from the revised September level of $1.55 billion.

The 90-day moving average billings were up 14.7% from a year ago and down 9.1% from September, at $1.36 billion.

The book-to-bill ratio was 0.98, according to latest SEMI data. A book-to-bill of 0.98 means that $98 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month. A ratio below 1.0 is considered an indicator of future decline.

It was the third straight month the ratio declined.