BANNOCKBURN, IL — Orders for printed circuit boards at North American fabricators fell 5.4% year-over-year in November.

November orders were down 3.8% sequentially, said IPC, which tabulates the data each month.

Sales resumed slow but positive growth in November. Total North American shipments were up 0.6% compared to the same month last year and 1% sequentially.

The book-to-bill ratio fell seven basis points to to 0.99, reversing a three month streak above parity. The ratio is calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC’s survey sample. A ratio of more than 1.0 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to six months. Because bookings tend to be more volatile than shipments, changes in the book-to-bill ratios from month to month might not be significant unless a trend of more than three consecutive months is apparent, said IPC.

"North American PCB orders have been more volatile than usual in the second half of 2016, causing volatility in the book-to-bill ratio,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “Year-on-year growth in both orders and sales has been trending gradually downward since last spring’s minor recovery but, based on the mostly positive book-to-bill ratios of the last few months, modest sales growth seems likely to resume in early 2017.”

Year-to-date bookings are down 0.6% from 2015. Shipments are up 2.6% Compared to the preceding month, November shipments increased 1.0%.

IPC’s monthly PCB industry statistics are based on data provided by a representative sample of rigid PCB and flexible circuit manufacturers selling in the US and Canada.