WASHINGTON — A rise in the U.S. minimum wage would have little effect on small-business labor costs, according to a survey of small-business owners released Tuesday by Discover Financial Services.

According to Discover, 70 percent of the 1,000 small-business owners it surveyed said an increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour would have no effect on labor costs. The minimum wage is currently $5.15 an hour.

“This most likely reflects that many small business owners pay more than the minimum wage to their employees,” said Sastry Rachakonda, director of Discover Business Card, in a release.

The survey includes companies with five or fewer employees.

While a higher minimum wage wouldn’t affect labor costs much, the survey found that 29 percent of small business owners thought it would affect the prices of products and services they use, Rachakonda said.

‘Soft landing’ forecast for U.S. economy in ‘07

WASHINGTON — A trade group representing the nation’s manufacturers on Tuesday predicted a soft landing for the U.S. economy in 2007, despite expectations that residential real estate will act as a drag on growth.

In its annual forecast, the National Association of Manufacturers forecast that industrial output would decelerate to a growth rate of 2.8 percent, or slightly below the 2.9 percent rate of expansion it expects for the overall economy.

The manufacturing sector grew by 4.5 percent, on average, in 2006, while the U.S. economy expanded by 3.1 percent, according to the association.

In looking back over the past year, the association said the country’s manufacturing expansion was “likely a cyclical peak in the pace of growth.”

The association’s chief economist, David Heuther said manufacturers in general would benefit from rising exports and increased business investment, though he cautioned that producers of wood and textile products, among others, would suffer from the slowdown in the housing sector.

SEC seeks 8 years of info on Digital River options

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked Internet marketer Digital River Inc. for documents about the stock options it gave its executives over the past eight years, the company said.

The Eden Prairie-based company, which has been accused in two lawsuits of backdating its stock options, made the disclosure in an SEC filing Friday after the market closed.

Digital River earlier this year bought two Lincoln companies, MindVision and eSellerate, from technology entrepreneur Steve Kiene for $25 million.

The SEC is “requesting the voluntary production of documents related to the company’s stock-option granting practices” from 1998 to the present, Digital River said in its filing. The SEC letter did not indicate that there had been a violation of federal securities laws, the filing said.

Digital River also disclosed that a committee of outside directors was conducting an internal review of the company’s option-granting practices. The company declined to comment further.

—From wire reports