We have come a long way, but in a negative correction period like this, we're not there yet. Unforeseen push-outs and cancellations damage the viability of the build backlog. Our estimates of the rate of business decline tend to be optimistic. PC board bookings, as the graph shows, have been on a steep downward slope since August 2000. Many industry analysts are forecasting the third quarter of 2001 as the bottom for this cycle.
Some stuff is still in the box.
U.S. Telecom Industry Orders U.S. orders for telecommunications equipment in January 2001 were higher than December 2000 by 13.5 percent. That also puts January orders 7.3 percent above year-ago levels. The Index of Industrial Production came in at 147 for January 2001, down only slightly from the 147.4 recorded in December. In fact the graph exhibits a leveling trend, since the decline was only 0.27 percent in contrast to a December 2000 drop of 0.54. Also, the January 2001 index is actually above the January 2000 index of 143.6 by 2.4 percent.