BANNOCKBURN, Ill., 5 June 2009. Some industry benchmarks indicate the potential beginning of economic recovery for the U.S. and Canadian printed circuit board business, say market forecasters at IPC Association Connecting Electronics Industries (formerly Institute of Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits) in Bannockburn, Ill.

The IPC, the trade association representing North American makers of computer board technology and other printed circuit boards, says the April 2009 book-to-bill ratio for the North American printed circuit board industry climbed for the third straight month from 0.89 to 0.97.

The IPC in April urged the U.S. military to buy electronic circuit boards -- even boards considered to be non-critical technology -- only from U.S. and Canadian companies to support a robust and technically advanced domestic supply base of military board products.

This ratio still indicates lagging demand, IPC experts say, but it is trending toward 1.0 -- the point of parity between bookings and shipments. Otherwise, however, IPC says circuit board industry statistics suggest worsening year-on-year growth rates in first quarter 2009, after growth rates turned negative in late 2008.

IPC's North American Electronics Industry Performance Index fell 29 percent in April -- the third straight quarter the index has declined. This index monitors the performance of the North American electronics supply chain.

For more information contact the IPC online at www.ipc.org.