MAN SE VDMA represents Germany's largest industrial employer, with sector employment rising above 1 million workers for the first time since 1993 in August.
Festge said at an industry conference that German engineering output in the January-to-August period was flat but affirmed a forecast for 1 percent growth in the full year 2014 and for 2 percent growth in 2015.
The VDMA - which represents more than 3,000 mainly small and medium-sized companies but also large companies such as Siemens (>> Siemens AG), MAN SE (>> Man SE) and ThyssenKrupp (>> ThyssenKrupp AG) - cut its 2014 output forecast from 3 percent in July.
(Reporting by Anneli Palmen and Tom Kaeckenhoff Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Harro ten Wolde)
