Placement in jobs retained more than six months through a $500 million Labor Department green-jobs training program is falling 84 percent short of its goal, according to a report released Friday.

The Labor inspector general audit offered a bleak picture of one of President Obama’s chief stimulus and policy goals — creating green jobs.

“Although grantees have reported achieving 90 percent of serving a collective goal of 126,493 participants, entered employment and retention results are far lower than planned,” the audit, which was an update to a September 2011 report, reports.

The Obama administration defended the Labor program in a letter attached to the report, calling the grants “smart investments that are preparing Americans for the clean energy jobs driving our 21st Century economy.”

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