Gmeiner Co$.$ had the following current assets and liabilities on December $31$ of two recent years:

Current Year Previous Year

Current assets:

Cash $$611,000$ $$555,000$

Accounts receivable $541,000261,000$

Inventory $334,000220,000$

Total current assets $$1,486,000$ $$1,036,000$

Current liabilities:

Current portion of long$-$term debt $$115,000$ $$102,000$

Accounts payable $230,000204,000$

Accrued and other current liabilities $375,000374,000$

Total current liabilities $$720,000$ $$680,000$

a$.$ Determine the quick ratio for December $31$ of both years. If required, round your answers to one decimal place.

Quick Ratio

Previous year: fill in the blank $1$

Current year: fill in the blank $2$

b$.$ How did the quick ratio change between the two balance sheet dates?