NEW YORK—The latest Optical Business Barometer (OBB) report from Jobson Optical Research, which gauges the attitudes about their business and their business outlook among independent eyecare professionals, shows that the overall optical business rating for December 2015 increased to 3.93 from a November 2015 rating of 3.80. Additionally, compared to December 2014, the rating is up slightly from 3.91. The Overall Optical business rating of 3.93 for December 2015 was the highest Overall Optical monthly rating of 2015.

For January through December 2015, the Overall Optical business rating stood at 3.84 compared to 3.75 for 2014 showing an increase of 2.5 percent. The confidence rating, a measuring of independent eyecare professionals’ outlook for overall optical retail business for the upcoming six months, was up, showing a rating of 3.95 as compared to November’s 3.93. The average rating for January through December 2015 stood at 3.92, the highest of January through December ratings for the past five years and up 2.1 percent over 2014.

The Optical Business Barometer is designed to gauge the optical business trends of eyecare professionals at independent optical locations and to provide independent optical retailers with a comparative “how's business” benchmark. The Optical Business Barometer is a monthly study of a representative sample of independent optical retailers (single locations and groups of no more than three locations). It is conducted online by Jobson Optical Research and is designed to take the temperature of the independent optical business. The OBB is based on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is very negative, 3 is neutral and 5 is very positive.

SOURCE: Jobson Optical Research Business Barometer for December 2015

Additionally, the December 2015 monthly scores for eyeglasses and contact lenses were up compared to December 2014 while the monthly score for exams was down from the previous year. The December rating for eyeglasses was up slightly from 3.86 in 2014 to 3.91 in 2015 (and further compared to 3.62 in 2013); the rating for exams went down from 4.00 in 2014 to 3.93 in 2015 (and further compared to 3.73 in 2013); and the rating for contact lenses rose from 3.72 in 2014 to 3.78 in 2015 (compared to 3.50 in 2013).

SOURCE: Jobson Optical Research Business Barometer for December 2015

Average year-to-date ratings for January through December 2015 for eyeglasses stood at 3.81, compared to 3.71 for the same period in 2014 and 3.63 in 2013. Exams stood at 3.88, compared to 3.80 for the same period in 2014 and 3.70 in 2013. Contact lens ratings stood at 3.69, compared to 3.62 for the same period in 2014 and 3.54 for 2013.

Jobson's OBB report is also compared to the Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board. The Consumer Confidence Index showed a slight increase in December 2015 to 96.5 from a revised 92.6 in November 2015. These ratings still do not surpass the Index’s high point, which came in January of 2000 with a rating of 144.7.

SOURCE: Jobson Optical Research Business Barometer for December 2015

Regional scores for the overall optical industry year-to-date average rating stood at 3.76 in the Northeast, 3.93 in the South, 3.82 in the Midwest and 3.87 in the West.

For more information, visit jobsonresearch.com/obb or contact Jennifer Waller at (212) 274-7164 or jwaller@jobson.com.