The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance fell as expected last week and a measure of underlying labor market trends hit a 1-1/2 year low, a government report showed on Thursday.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 439,000 in the week ended March 27, the Labor Department said.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected claims to dip to 440,000 from a previously reported 442,000 the prior week, a number that was revised to 445,000 in Thursday's report.

A Labor Department official described the report as fairly uneventful.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Unemployment Fall