The US book-to-bill US ratio was a little stronger at 1.07 in February, compared with 1.0 in January on a rising tide of orders that leaves the chipmakers a little less worried about the overall outlook for 1989. The Semiconductor Industry Association reports that shipments in February rose a sturdy 25.8% to $1,263.3m – 11.6% ahead of the figure for November – the like month in the last quarter, and 31.5% up on the figure a year ago. Average monthly orders for the three months to February were 10.6% ahead of the running figure for January at $1,243m, but only 8.4% up on the figure for November 1988. Three-month average shipments to February were $1,167.0m to produce the 1.07 book-to bill ratio. The December ratio is revised sharply upwards to 0.98 from the 0.93 reported at the time because the body now believes ships were higher at $1,172.9m
