Somebody else will have to be the bearer of bad news for state government.

That’s been Arun Raha’s role for the past three years. As the state’s chief economist, he projects Washington’s revenues and delivers quarterly reports that say how close they’re tracking to those estimates. As such, he’s one of the more visible people in state government.

Raha today turned in his resignation, effective Jan. 31.

“I got a very good offer from the private sector,” he said, declining to say what his next job will be. He has scheduled a news conference for noon.

He says he’ll miss the job and the people.

“I’ve given them enough time to find somebody else for the February forecast,” Raha said.

Collections have been on target since the last forecast in September, he said. Raha has a penchant for lightening his doom-and-gloom reports with dry humor, and he couldn’t resist quipping that he was quitting while he was ahead.