ANN ARBOR—Consumers demonstrated their resilience once again in the June 2006 survey. “Despite high gas prices and rising interest rates, consumer confidence improved in June,” according to Richard Curtin, the Director of the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers. The rebound moved consumer confidence back toward its average level during the past 50 years, although it still remains substantially below the year earlier figure. “Rather than a free-fall in confidence that has sparked recessions in the past, consumers have demonstrated a resilience based on a newfound sense of long-term economic stability,” according to Curtin. While consumers will curtail their spending in the year ahead to accommodate higher gas prices and smaller cash-outs from home refinancing, the spending cutback will be moderate. “The growth rate in overall spending will slow to about 2