An increase in oil and gas wages has triggered a spike in America’s construction costs, reports suggest.

Independent data was collected by global information company IHS and industry procurement authority, Procurement Executive Group (PEG). Findings credit the 26 consecutive-month increase in construction costs to the continuous demand for shale gas, and the growth in labor and wages that have resulted. The organizations used the IHS PEG Engineering and Construction Cost Index (ECCI), which tracks industry specific trends and is a leading indicator for wage and material inflation in the EPC sector. Data show that the index reached 55.9% in February, an increase of 1.8 percentage points from January.

The ECCI’s subcomponents—the materials and equipment index and the subcontractor labor index—also increased with subcontractor labor up 57.6% in February compared to 53.8% a month earlier. The Gulf Coast continues to post the highest index level of any region due to the energy boom and demand for labor in the region, which has lifted wage costs relative to other regions in North America. The data is based on survey respondents’ reports of rising labor costs which indicate a broader based hike in labor costs and not necessarily an increase in construction prices.