Figured it out.
See
Apple doesn't want the actual year and month from the Gregorian calendar, but rather the year and month of their own fiscal accounting calendar. So 01 is October, 02 is November, and so on.
https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/114240?login=true
https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/665639
Topic:
App Store Distribution & Marketing
SubTopic:
App Store Connect
Tags: