The solution/work-around was surprising. If I switched the data
interface to SQL server from ODBC to OLE DB, and made no changes to the
document itself, the formatting problem resolved nicely. 371.4 come out
as 371.40 as expected. I'll leave it to wiser minds than mine to decide
why a change in the data interface between Word and SQL Server would
make a difference in how mergefield formatting works. Me, I'm just
happy to be able to stop banging my head against the wall.

= Marchand =