Worldwide chip sales rose 5 percent in August to $19.1 billion compared to July sales of $18.2 billion. Compared to August a year ago, sales were down 16.1 percent from $22.7 billion.

The continued improvement this year, month-over-month increases for the past six months, show that the industry is continuing a slow but steady climb to recovery, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the chip industry’s trade group. The semiconductor industry is a bellwether for the global tech economy since chips are used in everything electronic.

Sales were up sequentially in all geographic regions. Year-to-date sales through August are down 21.3 percent ...

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