State economist Arun Raha to step down

Published 10:05 am Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Washington chief economist Arun Raha said this morning he will leave his job at the end of month.

More details will be shared at a noon press conference.

Raha is executive director of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council and the man responsible for predicting how much money the state will collect.

Raha, who is known for his humor amid the delivery of dour forecasts, will not be authoring the forecast due out in February. However, he said this morning he doesn’t foresee any significant fluctuation from the report he issued in November which is to say the economy is holding steady.

“I’m quitting while I’m still ahead,” he said.