ANN ARBOR—Consumer confidence improved in early January but then fell back as gas prices rose in late January. The net result was no overall change in confidence from December to January. ?Consumers view high gas prices as a threat to their living standards and a threat to the ability of the economy to create new jobs,? according to Richard Curtin, the Director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers. Rising interest rates were also a frequently cited concern, affecting both the cost of credit as well as consumers ability to cash-out some home equity to support their spending plans. Overall, the data points toward growth in personal consumption expenditures of 2