FOXNews reports: From the Baltic to Nags Head ... Teens From Eastern Europe Flock to U.S. Jobs
COROLLA, N.C. - Go shopping for barbecue fixings at the Food Lion in the Outer Banks and you'll notice the cashiers' Eastern European accents.
Walk across the street to the local Dairy Queen and order from fresh-faced workers who are standing at attention and eager to serve. Go for dinner at Turf's Up restaurant and hear the day's specials from waitress Indre Babiliute, a 21-year-old student from Lithuania.
She is among the 1,600 foreign students working this summer on North Carolina's Outer Banks, a major beach destination for Washingtonians.
"The coastal areas really depend on this group of workers because there is no labor force," said Michele Walker, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Employment Security Commission (ESC). "College students in the South are not working at the beaches anymore."
It appears American teens aren't applying for jobs at seasonal locations across the country.
Last summer, only 56.9 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds worked or looked for a job -- the lowest percentage since 1964, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Statistics. The rate has been declining since 1978, when it peaked at 69.1 percent.
