17BII: Bond yields different from NYT tables?

[Peter Lampione]

I must be using the 17BII in the wrong way: I get
a discrepancy between the bond yields
reported by the New York Times, and those computed by the
17BII. For instance, here is some data I got from today's
NYT:

Treasury bonds, from NYT Table:

• Month: Mar 03
  
• Rate: 5.5
  
• Bid/Ask: 102.23/102.24
  
• Yld: 2.23
  

I entered:

• Type: actual/actual, semi-annual
  
• Settlement: Mar 17, 2002
  
• Maturity: March 31, 2003 (should I have
  used March 1, 2003 instead? It makes only a minor difference)
  
• CPN% = 5.5
  
• CALL = 100
  
• PRICE = 102.23
  

And I get YIELD = 2.89, which is more than the yield listed by the NYT.

If I use PRICE = 102.23 - ACCRU = 101.52, I get
YIELD = 3.7%.

Where is my mistake? Why do the two rates, computed by me and reported by the NYT, differ?

Thanks,

Peter