[The following information applies to the questions displayed below.] Simon Companys year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 29,831	$ 34,869	$ 36,693
Accounts receivable, net	89,700	62,200	51,100
Merchandise inventory	112,500	83,500	53,000
Prepaid expenses	9,607	9,153	4,077
Plant assets, net	274,287	255,041	233,330
Total assets	$ 515,925	$ 444,763	$ 378,200
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 125,896	$ 73,662	$ 48,924
Long-term notes payable	95,054	100,250	81,911
Common stock, $10 par value	162,500	162,500	162,500
Retained earnings	132,475	108,351	84,865
Total liabilities and equity	$ 515,925	$ 444,763	$ 378,200

The companys income statements for the current year and one year ago follow. Assume that all sales are on credit:

For Year Ended December 31	Current Year		1 Year Ago
Sales		$ 670,703		$ 529,268
Cost of goods sold	$ 409,129		$ 344,024
Other operating expenses	207,918		133,905
Interest expense	11,402		12,173
Income tax expense	8,719		7,939
Total costs and expenses		637,168		498,041
Net income		$ 33,535		$ 31,227
Earnings per share		$ 2.06		$ 1.92

(3-a) Compute inventory turnover. (3-b) For each ratio, determine if it improved or worsened in the current year.