U.S. consumer prices accelerated in November amid a rebound in gasoline prices, but declining health-care and apparel costs curbed underlying inflation pressures.

The Labor Department said on Wednesday its Consumer Price Index increased 0.4 percent last month after edging up 0.1 percent in October. That raised the year-on-year increase in the CPI back to 2.2 percent from 2.0 percent in October.

Last month's increase in the CPI was in line with economists' expectations. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, consumer prices ticked up 0.1 percent as prices for airline fares and household furnishing fell.

The so-called core CPI advanced 0.2 percent in October. As a result, the annual increase in the core CPI slowed to 1.7 percent in November from 1.8 percent in October.

The moderation in the core CPI will likely attract the attention of Federal Reserve officials when they resume a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. Some Fed officials worry that factors that held down inflation in recent months could prove more persistent. But they could draw some comfort from a report on Tuesday showing a broad increase in producer prices in November.

The Fed's preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy, has consistently undershot the U.S. central bank's 2 percent target for almost 5-1/2 years.